THE Sun has held on to its top spot as the number one news brand in the UK while improving its bottom line in the face of rising costs.
Fresh accounts for publisher News Group Newspapers reveal The Sun reached 27.2 million adults a month in the relevant period, confirming its status as the UK’s number one newsbrand in terms of both weekly and daily reach.
AlamyThe Sun remains the number one news brand in the UK[/caption]
Surging revenues from its US website, the-sun.com, continued to help to offset a decline in newspaper sales in the past year. These US revenues are not included in the statutory accounts.
On a like-for-like basis, News Group Newspapers turnover slipped 5.7 per cent from £313.8 million to £305 million in the 52 weeks to 2 July 2023.
The recent action by social media companies, such as Facebook, to change how they display news content on its site has had a similar impact on The Sun’s website as its peers.
As a result, The Sun’s digital audience has dropped to 23.8 million in 2023 from 27.8 million the previous year. It still outperforms rivals digitally and generates 159 million users globally each month, according to accounts.
The business has so far managed inflationary pressures, such as the impact of soaring energy costs on the group’s newspaper printing.
Meanwhile, the publisher’s statutory loss before tax narrowed considerably from £127 million to £66.4 million in 2023. This is largely due to a much smaller legal charge of £51.6 million in respect to legal fees and damages related to the closure of the News of The World.
All these costs are fully covered by an existing indemnity from Fox Corporation, meaning they are reimbursed and do not affect the day to day running of NGN.
Excluding one-off charges, The Sun reported an operating loss of £11m.
For the same period, parent company News Corp reported its second highest year of profitability and reported an increase in digital advertising revenues as the media company transitions to digital.
The accounts confirm the paper remains “committed to keeping the nation informed,entertained and healthy during uncertain times and a turbulent political landscape.”
Amongst the successes of the past year The Sun’s Defence Editor, Jerome Starkey, won News Reporter of the Year at the Press Awards after reporting from the frontline in Ukraine and vividly accounted the human cost of Putin’s invasion.
The Sun’s campaigning included raising more than £1.5 million in the Earthquake Appeal following last year’s disaster in Turkey and Syria while Its Baby, Bank On Us helped shine a spotlight on young children during the cost of living crisis.
The latest Pamco audience results will be released tomorrow.
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