Archant shuts Tower Hamlets Recorder

Archant has closed east London weekly the Tower Hamlets Recorder, as the privately owned regional newspaper company reported an 8.9% year-on-year dip in profits.

Last week's edition of Tower Hamlets Recorder, which is normally published on a Wednesday, was the last.

In a sign that the Norwich-based company is suffering from the same downturn that has affected its larger rivals including Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press, editors at Archant's London and Essex titles are understood to have been told to cut costs at a recent meeting after a period of poor trading.

"The Tower Hamlets Recorder, sales 350, a slip edition of the Newham Recorder, has been merged with the main title," an Archant spokesman said."Tower Hamlets is also served by two other Archant titles, the Press Gazette Weekly Newspaper of the Year, the East London Advertiser, and The Docklands, which serves the Canary Wharf area. There are no direct job losses as a result of the merger," the spokesman added.The Archant chairman, Richard Jewson, warned of further cuts as he unveiled the company's results for the first six months of 2008 yesterday.

"Our capable management team will actively seek efficiencies and cost reductions to mitigate the impact of the economic downturn and focus efforts on developing our online businesses," Jewson said.

But he added that a strong balance sheet and brands that include the Eastern Daily Press make the company "well positioned to weather the economic storm".

Archant's turnover for the six months to the end of June was £93.6m, down from £98.5m year on year. Profit before exceptional items was £13.1m, down from £14.5m.Jewson also forecast difficult trading for the next year. "We have entered a period of significant difficulty for the regional press, evidenced by share price movements of quoted peer companies, with both cyclical downturn and structural changes impacting the sector," he said.

"The depth and duration of the downturn is as yet unclear and we expect the difficult trading conditions to continue for at least the next year."

Online advertising revenues grew 63% year on year, while Archant's homes24 site saw unique visitors increase by 117% in the first half.

In Archant's magazine division, turnover increased by 4.1% year-on-year to £27.8m, while operating profit remained stable at £2.6m.

Archant owns a range of regional newspapers, magazines and websites including the Life magazine series, the Recorder and the Advertiser series of local papers and Eastern Daily Press.

In March it came under fire after managers at Archant Suffolk decided to cut production staff at the East Anglian Daily Times and the Ipswich Evening Star from 26 to 18 and replace them with 10 non-journalist advertising designers.

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