(JPR.L) Johnston Press PLC Buy/Sell

RNS Number : 8651C Johnston Press PLC 20 November 2009

Johnston Press plc (the "Company")

JOHNSTON PRESS PLC SHARE INCENTIVE PLAN

The Company has been informed that the following Directors and members of the Group Management Board purchased Ordinary shares of 10p each in the Company under the Johnston Press plc Share Incentive Plan on 20 November 2009 at a price of 28.47p per share:

Name Shares Purchased Beneficial Interest Resultant Interest*
S R Paterson 439 244,599 12,120,556
D Cammiade 439 206,633 12,082,590
M A Vickers 439 101,426 11,977,383

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Britain's communications regulator recommended relaxing rules on ownership of local media to help commercial providers of regional news struggling to survive a slump in advertising.
If approved by the government, the new rules recommended by Ofcom would allow radio operators to consolidate around a local area, helping independent commercial operators compete with the state-funded BBC.
They would also liberalise cross-media ownership regulations to the extent that the only banned combination would be to own a local radio station, local newspapers with majority local market share, and a regional channel 3 TV licence all at once.
The changes could benefit radio operators such as Bauer Radio, Global Radio, Guardian Media Group, Virgin Media and UTV Media.
It could also help regional newspaper group Johnston Press as well as national groups such as Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail & General Trust, who own numerous local titles.
Ofcom has also said that new funding is needed to provide regional news on Britain's main commercial TV network because the cost of paying for broadcasting licences will outweigh the benefits by 2012.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Simon Jessop) Keywords: BRITAIN MEDIA/CONSOLIDATION (georgina.prodhan@thomsonreuters.com; +4420 7542 7954; Reuters Messaging georgina.prodhan.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

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RNS Number : 3025C
  Johnston Press PLC
  11 November 2009
   

    
 For Immediate Release  11 November 2009

Johnston Press plc

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Johnston Press plc today publishes its Interim Management Statement which has been drawn up for the 44 weeks to 31 October 2009, being the last practicable date, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

At our half year results announcement on 28 August 2009 we reported that total advertising revenues for the first 26 weeks of the year were down by 32.7% on the equivalent period in the prior year, and that the trend had improved over the first 8 weeks of the second half and the rate of decline had slowed to 26.1%. This trend has continued with the last 10 weeks only down by 19.1% such that the first 18 weeks of the second half of the year have seen a total advertising decline of 22.1%.  The greater stability in advertising revenues we referred to in the half year announcement has continued with the average weekly advertising revenues in September and October being at the same level as in May and June, with improvements in the property market offsetting a continued decline in recruitment related revenues.

In addition to the significant cost reductions made by the Group in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009, we expect further progress to be made with a year*on*year reduction for the full year to be around £50m.

During the month of October, the Group announced the closure of two printing operations, one in Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland and the other in Edinburgh, Scotland.  The impacted titles will be moved to either third parties or other group presses allowing increased colour, as well as cost reductions in 2010.  There will be increased redundancy costs from those previously anticipated such that the cash exceptional costs for the year will be close to £12m.  These closures will also result in a write-off totalling £20m being the book value of the presses on these sites.  

The business continues to be cash generative, however, there is limited scope for debt reduction in the second half of the year. This is as a result of the £15m fees on the refinancing which were payable on signing, the exceptional costs noted above and the increased interest costs.

Given the greater stability in advertising revenues, combined with reducing declines in circulation revenues and continued progress with cost savings, the Group is confident of delivering an operating profit in line with current market expectations for 2009.

      Contact:

 John Fry, Chief Executive or    Richard Oldworth/Suzanne Brocks/
 Stuart Paterson, Chief          Christian Goodbody 
 Financial Officer               Buchanan Communications    Tel: 020
 Johnston Press plc    Tel:      7466 5000
 0131 225 3361

The Interim Management Statement may contain forward looking statements which; have been made by the Directors in good faith based on the information available to them at the time of their approval of the Statement; and Should be treated with caution due to inherent uncertainties, which are beyond Johnston Press' ability to control or estimate precisely and include both economic and business risk factors, underlying such forward looking information.

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
  END 
 
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RNS Number : 0170C Johnston Press PLC 05 November 2009

Johnston Press plc ("the Company")

DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST IN SHARES

The Company received notification on 4 November 2009 that Harris Associates LP has decreased its holding from 19,589,131 to 15,479,535 Ordinary Shares of 10p each in the Company. The revised holding represents 2.41% of the relevant share capital. This results in their number of voting rights being 15,479,535 (direct).

5 November 2009

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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