Shares in Reach PLC (LSE:RCH) rose and then fell almost 4% despite the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, MyLondon and Bristol Live reporting a better performance in the past quarter.
Group revenue was down 2.5% in the third quarter, bringing the decline to 3.1% for the first nine months of 2025.
Both print and digital performed better, led by the latter, where revenue was up 2.1% in Q3, taking the nine-month performance to 1.9%.
Direct digital revenue decreased 0.8% year-on-year, as a weaker environment continued across local markets, with lower referral volumes from Google meaning page views fell 1% over the nine-month period.
Indirect revenues, mostly social media, increased 4%.
Print revenue was down 3.9% in Q3, with the year-to-date decline at 4.5%, as the fall in ad revenue reduced to 13.3% in Q3.
Reach said it has restructured the group around three priorities to accelerate growth: with new teams focused on video production, commercial innovation, and off-platform audience expansion. This incurred an estimated £20 million restructuring cost for the year.
The company said it remains confident in delivering full-year market expectations, supported by resilient print performance, disciplined cost control, and cost savings of 4-5%, with digital revenues expected to be broadly flat year-on-year.
Analysts at Panmure Liberum said they expect Print to continue to outperform and nudged up their revenue forecasts while Digital is expected to be softer given referral traffic pressure and faces a tough Q4 comparative from last year, leading to forecasts being trimmed.
"Sluggish macro and AI referral noise continues to weigh on B2C publishers, but valuations are at levels discounting extreme scenarios and suggest deep value status. We do see considerable value in the stock, but near term the shares are likely to remain volatile."