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Feb 3 (Reuters) - Johnston Press Plc, the publisherof the Scotsman, said trading towards the end of 2016 improvedas it posted a 1 percent rise in fourth-quarter revenue aided bystrong sales of its "i" and Yorkshire Post titles.
The 250-year-old company said signs of business confidencewere improving as quarterly revenue returned to growth aftercontracting 5 percent in the previous quarter in the "immediateaftermath" of Britons' June vote to leave the European Union.
The company said that strong circulation revenues from the"i" title has offset the decline in circulation revenue fromother newspapers in its stable.
Johnston has over 200 titles across the country and acquiredIndependent Print's "i" newspaper for 24 million pounds lastyear to tap into i's growing circulation revenue and advertisingbase.
The newspaper industry has been hammered in recent years asadvertisers have followed readers to online platforms, forcingprint publishers such as Trinity Mirror and Daily Mailand General Trust to cut costs drastically.
Edinburgh-based Johnston has been focusing on particularregions and betting on its new national advertising network,1XL, to return to revenue growth.
However, the company warned that it is seeing higher costsfrom imported paper and ink due to weakness in sterling afterthe Brexit vote.
Total revenue for the year to Dec. 31 was down 6 percent asthe advertising squeeze continued, Johnston said.
Total print and digital advertising revenue, excludingclassifieds, for the year was down 7 percent.
Analysts at Liberum, in a client note, said that JohnstonPress has seen significant improvements in trends across theboard in the fourth quarter.
The brokerage adds that the company has applied strict costdiscipline. It has a "buy" rating on the stock.
Shares in the company were up 1.6 percent at 0933 GMT. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Adrian Croft)
