Daily Record owner takes write-down hit to results

The publishing group behind the Mirror, Daily Record and Express newspapers has swung to a halfyear loss after it was forced to write down the value of its regional titles.

Reach – formerly Trinity Mirror – posted a statutory pre-tax loss of £113.5 million for the first half of the year, compared with a profit of £38.2m a year earlier.

The group was hit by a £150m impairment charge resulting from a “more challenging than expected outlook” for its regional businesses.

It marks the first half-year results from Reach since its acquisition of the Express & Star newspapers from Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell. The takeover lifted group revenues to £353.8m from £320m.