Daily Mail and General Trust today blamed the tough UK economy for tumbling profits at its newspaper division, but the number of mobile users looking at its MailOnline website is booming.
Pre-tax profits fell to £46 million in the six months to March against £73 million as the group ran up big restructuring costs. Underlying profits before exceptional items fell 8% as growth outside the UK, responsible for two-thirds of profits, failed to offset a decline in print newspaper advertising.
DMGT, a 25% owner of the Evening Standard, said one quarter of all UK users of MailOnline now access the website and phone app on a mobile device.
Chief financial officer Stephen Daintith said tablet users were much keener to look at MailOnline via an internet browser and usage “dwarfs” that of the Daily Mail newspaper iPad app.
MailOnline, the world’s most popular newspaper website with 94 million monthly visitors, focuses on celebrity stories, and is very different from the more traditional Daily Mail iPad app, which is more like the print newspaper.
