Daily Mail and General Trust : publisher's nine-month op profit falls 44%

The publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper reported a 44% drop in nine-month operating profit after growth in the first five months was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, although it said its newspapers and website had returned to profit in June.

Daily Mail and General Trust reported adjusted operating profit of 63 million pounds ($80 million) for the nine months to end-June on revenue of 934 million pounds, down an underlying 7%.

The group, which is not issuing guidance for the year, said on Thursday its consumer media unit had returned to profitability in June, with a mid-single digit adjusted operating margin in the month.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by James Davey)