Newspaper group posts £3.6m loss
By Stephanie Bartup, Midlands Correspondent
The holding company behind the Midlands News Association (MNA) remains trapped in the red after posting a year-end loss of £3.6m, Insider can reveal. MNA, which publishes the Star & Express and Shropshire Star newspaper titles, is one of six subsidiaries under the Wolverhampton-based Claverley Company brand.
Turnover also fell by £5m over the year to 1 January 2011, which the company attributed to "another challenging year" in the newspaper industry.
Alongside its primary business MNA, Claverley Company owns Nurtons Holdings; publishing and technology company Guiton Group; printing business Precision Colour Printing; Press Computer Systems and Roughton Insurances. The holding company and the majority of its subsidiaries are based in Wolverhampton.
Group turnover for the year declined from £124m at the beginning of 2010 to £119m.
More than £104m of the turnover was derived from its newspaper subsidiaries, the remainder from the technology and insurance companies.
The £3.6m overall loss the company suffered in 2009 was replicated in its 2010 results.
In a statement, the company said of its MNA subsidiary: "The newspaper publishing subsidiaries in the UK faced another challenging year with the prolonged economic downturn making trading very difficult. Newspaper circulation continued to decline throughout the industry as did advertising revenues."
Alongside the Shropshire Star and Express and Star – which claims to be UK's best selling regional daily newspaper – MNA also produces several free publications throughout the year.
Claverley Company said the performance of its UK technology division was also "disappointing", blaming an uncertain UK economy and public sector cuts.
Its Channel Island-based divisions, Nurtons Holdings and Guiton Group, suffered a poor end to the year as severe weather conditions halted production at the publishing company. Its Guernsey and Jersey newspapers both recorded their worst results for nine years.
Over the year, the company spent £51m on staff costs, a figure which was slashed by £2m from 2009.
Claverley Company revealed its annual results though documents sent to Companies House.
