Sentinel owner boosts mobile audience with96 per cent growth

Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Evening Post, has also reported that its total digital audience was up 40 per cent year on year in September.

Over 27million users per month now read the group’s collective output in print and on screen every month, according to an Interim Management Statement, drawn up for the 16 weeks to October 18, and published on Wednesday.

“Having successfully refinanced in the first half of the year, the business continues to grow its audience and move closer to returning to top line growth, with more advertising categories now showing net growth in the period,” the statement reads.

“We enjoyed a further narrowing of the decline in total revenues year on year from continuing operations, down 3.1 per cent in the third quarter compared with 4.3 per cent in the first half of the year,” it adds.

Part of the group’s strategy to return to overall growth involves investing in new digital products, accelerating digital revenues and continue to pay down debt.

One of the highlights listed is: “Momentum in digital audience growth underpinning the strength of our multimedia platform, with total print and digital audience now averaging over 27m users per month including mobile audience nearly doubling (96 per cent growth) to 6.5m average monthly unique users. Total digital audience up 40 per cent year on year in September.”

Consequently, the company points out that digital revenues delivered strong growth of 19.5 per cent in the quarter.

Read the full statement here.