LONDON -- Shares in Daily Mail and General Trust (LSE: DMGT.L) were up over 2% yesterday morning, as a pre-close trading update confirmed that the outcome for the year is in line with market expectations.
The results for the 11-month period to the end of August 2012 showed positive underlying revenue performance, up 3%, while the highlight of the update showed that the underlying revenue for its business-to-business operations increased by 8%.
Martin Morgan, chief executive, said:
DMGT has delivered a solid revenue performance over the year to date, driven by continued strength in our B2B operations. The consumer business delivered a resilient performance and also benefited from incremental revenue from the Olympics ... Going forward our focus will remain on driving organic growth, operational and financial efficiency and pursuing an active portfolio management approach.
Associated Newspapers showed a 1% growth in underlying revenue, with its circulation and digital revenue growth contributing a large part to offset against the industry's weakness surrounding print advertising.
With a price-to-earnings ratio hovering around 10, shares in Daily Mail and General Trust look like a decent value for the money in an industry where its rivals are suffering due to the aforementioned advertising losses. Much of the success has come from the positive, but expected, results from its B2B operations, while it has been a leader in digital -- MailOnline overtook the New York Times website at the end of last year to become the most popular newspaper-owned website globally, and online advertising is where the money is at these days with the emergence of tablet computers.
Shares hit their peak at over 13 pounds in 2000, and today sit at 485.75 pence at the time of writing. And that's after growing the business and the annual dividend. So it may pay to keep an eye on the group's continued recovery...
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