INM lost nearly £14m offloading Independent newspaper

Newspaper publisher Independent News and Media (INM) lost 16.6m euro (£13.8m) when it dumped The Independent last year, according to its first-half results.

The company, which still has titles in Ireland, South Africa and Australasia, recorded a turnover of €656.5m to June 30 2010, up from €608.8m for the same period in 2009. Pre-tax profit stood at €53.3m – an increase from €38.3m in 2009.

Included in the group's exceptional items was a €16.6m net loss on the group’s disposal of the The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, which it sold to Alexander Lebedev for £1 in March 2010.

Despite the net loss, INM said that the sale had freed it of "all future trading liabilities and obligations".

When the newspaper was initially sold, the company said that it would pay Lebedev £9.25m to offset any losses that the newspaper makes in its first year under his rule.

Dropping the loss-making titles is expected to help INM further reduce its debt, which was slashed by €65.9m to around €200m in the first half of the year, following a "significant" reduction the previous year.

Group chief executive officer Gavin O’Reilly said: "After an extremely difficult 2009, we’ve had a very good start to 2010, achieving a number of important milestones in revenue growth, market share, profitability and further deleveraging.

"Positive year-on-year advertising trends, as well as solid performances in circulation and other revenues, have continued to improve through the opening months of the second half.

"Profits for H2 to date continue to be well ahead of last year. This gives us confidence for the balance of 2010 and, assuming a continuation of these positives, we are targeting an improved operating performance for the year, in line with current market expectations."

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