Daily Mail owner loses revenue and adverts

The owner of the Daily Mail said that the revenue it made from selling newspapers dropped two per cent in the first three months of the financial year.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said it had seen a 2 per cent fall in circulation revenue, a blow in part cushioned when it bought the i newspaper in 2019.

Without this purchase, circulation revenue would have dropped by 7 per cent, the company revealed. Revenue was also helped by a 10p hike in the price of the Daily Mail in January last year.

But while circulation took a hit, the company's advertising income fared even worse. Many businesses have slashed their advertising spend as they are squeezed by the pandemic.

A rise of 8 per cent in digital advertising was more than offset by a 38 per cent slump in print ads.

It meant that ad revenue dropped by 15 per cent in DMGT'S consumer media unit, which also includes the mail on Sunday and the Metro.