Improved half-year performance for Gleaner

With $71-million profit from operations bolstered by a second-quarter hike in finance income, The Gleaner Company's six-month pre-tax profit moved to $188 million. Profit after taxation for the period was $143 million.

This performance was on the back of a $24-million, or a one per cent, rise in sales over the six-month period to $1.63 billion. Sales in the second quarter, however, when advertising tends to pick up after a sluggish post-Christmas period, rose by two and a quarter per cent to $837 million.

Despite the mild second quarter uptick in sales, the company, its officials say, like the wider media industry, is still feeling the effects of Jamaica's weak economy.

"While there are some signs that the economy may be emerging from a long recession, this has still not yet translated into robust activity, including spending on advertising, which is a crucial part of our income stream," said Managing Director Christopher Barnes.

In the current environment, controlling costs, which The Gleaner Company has managed tightly in recent years, remains an important focus for the newspaper.

54/46 share

The bulk of the $125 million in finance income was attributable to interest earned on the pension receivable created by a 54/46 share, between plan members and the company, of surplus funds arising from last year's winding up of the company's defined benefit pension scheme.

The managing director added: "The company is going through an exciting phase of a full transition to multimedia capability and the resulting enhancement of its digital platforms. We have revamped and launched several of our digital offerings this year, including our online classifieds (www.gleanerclassifieds.com), our videos section (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/videos/) and our incomparable first in the Caribbean BlackBerry news application (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/getmobile). These new offerings when added to our leading positions in print, online and niche radio, and the commitment of a dedicated and innovative Gleaner team, position us well for the future."