Mirror publisher Reach stock jumps on digital good news
Reach stock jumped this morning on the news the business had seen impressive digital growth in Q4 2020.
The Mirror publisher’s stock jumped 25 per cent this morning on the news the publisher was doing better than expected.
The publisher, which owns brands including the Express and the Daily Star saw digital revenue in Q4 grow by 25 per cent, up from 13 per cent in Q3.
Reach expects underlying operating profit for 2020 to be in the range of £130m to £135m, largely driven by its digital performance.
Print circulation sales were down in 12 per cent in Q4, a slight improvement on the nearly 13 per cent decline in Q3.
Despite its digital success revenue for the quarter declined 10 per cent, better slightly than the 15 per cent decline seen in Q3.
Reach CEO Jim Mullen said: “It is a testament to our people that Reach has not only dealt with the unique challenges 2020 has presented, but we have accelerated our strategy and we are ahead of where we expected to be.
“The new COVID-19 restrictions bring macro-economic uncertainty, but the changes made in the business during 2020 to develop a new, more efficient operating model put us in a strong competitive position.”
In December five million online customers registered for Reach ID, its proprietary customer insight platform, which provides a view of a user’s activity across all Reach sites and enables Reach to better target customers.
This month the company will launch new sites covering Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire as well as expanding its MyLondon editorial team.