LONDON (Alliance News) - Information, events and publishing company Dods (Group) PLC Wednesday said its interim loss slightly widened in the first half of the year, as revenue declined as it continued to try and shift towards surging demand for online media.
The company announced a restructuring programme last autumn, as like its peers in the media sector, it is cutting costs in traditional media streams in order to push more online and invest in technology.
It posted a pretax loss of GBP1.2 million for the six months to end-September, slightly more than the GBP1.1 million loss it reported the prior year, as administrative expenses rose and revenue declined to GBP8.4 million, from GBP9.3 million.
The company, which provides political data, publishes magazines like Civil Service World and organises political policy conferences among other things, said its gross profit margin increased to 24.8%, from 22.0% a year earlier, as it focused on "quality revenues", including further planned reductions in its events portfolio.
"We continue to be in a period of transition but are seeing the benefits of our early initiatives. We are currently trading in line with management's expectations," Chief Executive Martin Beck said in the company's statement.
Dods shares were untraded Wednesday morning. The stock last traded at 6.61 pence per share.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
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