Sunday Business Post reports loss as buyers still interested

A number of potential buyers are still weighing up a bid for the Sunday Business Post with its owner forecasting the publication will return to profit after reporting a loss in its last financial year.

Newly filed accounts for Post Publications Limited show it recorded a €520,128 pre-tax loss for the 12 months ending June 2017, reversing a €5,529 profit a year earlier.

Turnover during the period slipped to €7.13 million from €7.53 million as the cost of sales jumped to €5.9 million from €5.7 million.

A spokesperson for the publication said the company remains “in active discussions” with a number of potential bidders and “was hopeful” that a deal could be concluded.

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The spokesperson told The Irish Times, that the newspaper had been profitable over the last nine-months and expected a material turnaround to be recorded in the next set of company accounts.

Sales of The Sunday Business Post rose by almost 5 per cent in the second half of 2017 to 31,674, which includes over 2,000 in online subscriptions.

A note from directors with the accounts said the company “continues to outperform the market in circulation and advertising revenues.”

The accounts also note that the company incurred costs implementing a number of cost-saving initiatives during the reporting year, a period in which Siobhan Lennon replaced Paul Cooke as chief executive.

The Sunday Business Post newspaper and an associated printing business, Cork-based Webprint, were put up for sale by their private equity owners Key Capital last September.

Key Capital, which is chaired by Conor Killeen, led a consortium that bought the newspaper out of examinership in 2013 in a deal reported to be worth more than €1.2 million.

The Post was previously owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings, which was once also the publisher of the Cork-based Irish Examiner, which is being acquired by The Irish Times.