Sparks

Reach’s Q3 trading update shows the company is on track to meet full-year adjusted operating profit expectations, with an improved digital revenue performance and reduced declines on the print side. On the digital front, a higher proportion of data-driven volume (now nearly half of digital revenues) has helped improve yields, albeit on lower page views, lifting revenues 2.5% (nine months performance flat). Print continues its volume decline, with the revenue reduction partly offset by cover price increases, resulting in print revenues down 3.9% in the quarter, again an improvement on the first half performance. Efforts to curtail group costs are running slightly ahead of plan and progress is reported on the US expansion plan, re-platforming the group’s websites and on the development of the group’s in-house adtech platform.