Reach PLC (LSE:RCH), the publisher of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express, saw its shares fall 3.2% to 66.6p on Tuesday despite reporting adjusted operating profit ahead of market expectations, as investors focused on a cautious outlook for digital revenues and a large non-cash writedown.
The company, the UK and Ireland's largest commercial news publisher, posted adjusted operating profit of £104.7 million for 2025, up 2.4% on the previous year, on revenues of £518.4 million, down 3.7%.
A statutory operating loss of £160.1 million was driven by a £222.8 million non-cash impairment charge reflecting the reduced carrying value of the group's assets.
Digital revenues proved resilient at £128.9 million, marginally below the £130 million recorded in 2024, despite a sharp fall in traffic from Google search referrals in the second half of the year that pushed on-platform page views down 8% year on year.
Chief executive Piers North said the company had responded with decisive cost action, reducing adjusted operating costs by 5.2%, ahead of its 4% to 5% target.
Reach said trading in the first two months of 2026 continued against a backdrop of lower referral volumes and a challenging macroeconomic environment, and that it was taking a cautious approach to digital performance for the year.
The company said it remained on track to deliver full-year market expectations, underpinned by a further 5% to 6% reduction in adjusted operating costs.
Post-period, Reach announced the closure of two print sites, at Saltire in Scotland and Watford, at an estimated cash cost of around £25 million, with the properties expected to be sold in 2027.
The company launched six digital subscription products during the year, including titles for the Manchester Evening News and the Express, and said it was targeting more than 75,000 subscribers across its titles in 2026.
Reach also agreed an artificial intelligence content licensing deal with Amazon Web Services, under a pay-per-usage model, and said it was in active discussions with several other technology platforms.
The total dividend was maintained at 7.34p per share.