Johnston Press Achieves Record Web Traffic

Johnston Press has achieved record web traffic during the third quarter of this year, led by the Yorkshire Evening Post growing 64 per cent year on year, the publisher said in a trading update today.

The i newspaper had continued to perform very well, the publisher said, with total like-for-like revenues increasing 17 per cent in the quarter, with print advertising up 14 per cent year on year.

The newly re-launched i weekend has seen its average circulation volume increase by 15,000 in its first three weeks.

Other successful Saturday relaunches during the period include the Lancashire Post and the (Ulster) News Letter, both of which delivered a three per cent increase on their base sale, the publisher said.

Total revenue was down seven per cent, a one percentage point improvement on the second quarter.

But digital display advertising growth of 16 per cent has been driven through the use of user data to target customers and grow advertising yields, the publisher added.

In the third quarter, The Scotsman generated a 35 per cent increase in total local advertising year on year, driven by 47 per cent of local display revenue now coming from digital products.

Ashley Highfield, Johnston Press chief executive, said: “Our key strategic priorities of continuing the success of the i newspaper and growing digital revenues have both shown strong gains during the period.

“It is significant that The Scotsman saw strong year on year advertising growth in Q3, with almost half of that coming from digital, driven by both audience growth and increased monetisation from data-driven targeted advertising.”