Johnston Press confident of recovering from difficult first half

(ShareCast News) - Newspaper publisher Johnston Press reported a slowdown in first half trading but said it remained confident in its strategy.The London-listed company said that in the 26 weeks to 4 July, it swung from a pre-tax loss of £6.3m to a pre-tax profit of £2.2m, although revenue declined 5% year-on-year to £128.9m on the back of increased exceptional costs.Johnston saw revenue from digital advertising surge 17.5% in the period, but the gain was offset by a 9.5% decline in print advertising and a 5.3% drop in newspaper sales.The group attributed the slowdown in print advertising to advertisers adopting a more circumspect approach between May and June, as they held back spending.However, in July, the division saw an improvement in performances from the previous quarter, although the figures remained 7.7% lower than in the corresponding period a year ago.Meanwhile, Johnston said its cost-cutting strategy had delivered £5m in savings and was expected to lead to further reduction in operating expenses.Trading conditions in the first half of 2015 have undoubtedly been challenging, with May and June being particularly difficult - a time when there was also a high degree of uncertainty in the wider market," said group chief executive Ashley Highfield."We will continue to drive for further improvement in revenues, albeit off a lower base, and will also continue to target further cost savings."Johnston shares were flat at 109.75p at 0958 BST on Tuesday.