Revenue and operating profits at The Telegraph stayed steady last year amid its continuing state of ownership limbo.
The Telegraph’s parent company Press Acquisitions Limited, via subsidiaries Telegraph Media Group until September 2024 and then Telegraph Media Group Holdings after a reorganisation, has published audited accounts showing revenue up 1.2% to £279.4m in the year to 29 December 2024.
The group also includes Chelsea Magazine Company, purchased by The Telegraph in March 2023.
The Telegraph spent £18.3m in exceptional costs relating to the takeover in 2023 and a further £12.8m in 2024, taking the total to £31.1m.
Operating profit before exceptional items was down 0.2% to £54.6m, said to have been driven by digital subscriptions and online advertising growth “despite a challenging advertising market”.
The operating profit margin “remains robust” at 20%, the trading statement added.
Total subscriptions to Telegraph and CMC brands were up by 5% to 1,086,000 in December 2024. The acquisition of CMC helped Telegraph Media Group top one million subscriptions in August 2023.
Of these, 842,000 (78%) were digital subscriptions in December 2024. Digital subscriptions were up 11% in a year.
Digital subscriptions revenue was up 18% to £81.1m (meaning growth of 40% in two years) while digital advertising revenue grew by 19% to £20m.
Print subscriptions revenue was down 5% to £69.4m, circulation revenue dipped 3% to £55.8m and print advertising dropped 13% to £29m.
Other revenue was down 10% to £24.1m “largely as a result of the changes to the rules governing third party search engine optimisation”. Google algorithm changes and the arrival of AI summaries at the top of search results in 2024 have affected traffic to many publishers.
Revenue from CMC was £10.2m, up from £8.1m in 2023 when the figures only covered nine months since the acquisition date.
Some 88% of Telegraph revenue comes from the UK and Ireland.
Telegraph Media Group Holdings chief executive Anna Jones said: “Despite the ongoing uncertainty around the future ownership of our business, we continue to prosper.
“Our quality and authoritative journalism underpins the success of the business, which is reflected in the consistent growth of our digital subscriptions revenue again in 2024.
“This momentum in digital growth has continued into 2025 and the business is on track for 19% growth in its digital subscribers year-on-year by the end of December.”
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Pre-tax profit was down from £201m to £15m in 2024 while operating profit including exceptional items was down from £207m to £19.5m. The company said this was because the 2023 figures included the reversal of an £196m impairment applied under the Barclay family, the former owners.
The group had more employees in 2024: 1,229 on average each month, of which 792 were in editorial and production, versus 1,197 and 786 respectively in 2023.
The Telegraph has been unable to properly invest or create a new long-term strategy since June 2023 when the company was effectively repossessed by Lloyds Banking Group over unpaid Barclay family debts.
In November 2023, Abu Dhabi state-backed investment group Redbird IMI took control of Telegraph Media Group after agreeing a deal to pay off £1.2bn in Barclay family debts.
The UK Government then issued pre-emptive orders restricting any transfers of ownership or changes to The Telegraph’s board, key staff or management responsibilities, controls that remain active.
The Redbird IMI deal was scuppered in March 2024 when the Government announced plans to stop foreign government-backed entities owning more than 15% of UK newspapers and magazines.
In May this year Redbird Capital Partners announced it had a deal in principle to buy The Telegraph for £500m, with Abu Dhabi-backed IMI limiting its stake to 15%. However Redbird is still waiting for Government approval, with a potential Competition and Markets Authority investigation on the cards.
Redbird Capital boss Gerry Cardinale has just issued a public plea for the Government to clear the takeover, saying the firm has “the investment resources and operating expertise to help transform a legacy newspaper business (that everyone says is in decline) into a growth-oriented media company” and promising measures to protect editorial independence.
However The Guardian reported this week that the independent directors of The Telegraph, who are in place to protect it while the sale process continues, have reported to the Government alleged comments made by Cardinale to Telegraph editor Chris Evans that the Redbird boss threatened to go to war with the newsroom.
Press Acquisitions had £36m cash in the bank at the end of 2024 although it has since paid back £35m towards a £50m loan from Lloyds Bank and owes a further £15m due in May 2026.
Despite the ownership uncertainties, the publisher said in the accounts it has a “new five-year plan” that sets out its “future ambitions for its subscription-first strategy with continued investment in journalism, product development and technology advancements”.
The statement also said: “There is continued focus on maintaining the pace of newsroom transformation from an advertising-led print strategy to a subscriptions-led digital strategy, developing effective systems to achieve our ambition to become a digital-first news operation. This requires the continued evolution and alignment of people, processes and systems.
“Continued editorial investment and focus on recruiting the right skills for the future while balancing resources to meet subscriber demand is key, alongside investing in digital-first content and talent initiatives.”
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