Parragon closure costs DC Thomson £41m

Closing Bath-based publisher Parragon cost owner DC Thomson £41m, according to the Scotland-based company’s annual financial results.

DC Thomson said it closed Parragon because the business made “significant” losses in recent years. “The market for Parragon’s product had declined and there were inherent structural issues that we could not see being resolved. The cost of closure is disclosed as a discontinued item. This amounted to a £41m loss before tax.”

Scotland's largest publishing company announced the closure of Parragon in February last year, putting 245 jobs are at risk of redundancy globally. At the time, DC Thomson told The Bookseller that increased competition and a lack of retail space had also paid their part in the decision to shut down the business.

DC Thomson’s overall revenues for the year ending 31st March 2018 did, however, rise 2.7% to £207.3m compared to the previous 12 months. Pre-tax profits were up from £54m to £71.4m but profit for the year fell to £26.3m from £31.6m.

One successful line of business for the company was its Brightsolid data storage subsidiary, which achieved a revenue rise of 23%.

In the media division, which includes newspaper The Evening Express and The Beano, print circulation revenues held up “comparatively well” despite problems associated with readers moving online.

“The reducing number of paying customers for printed material has affected this sector over recent years as the availability of free sources of information online has increased,” said DC Thomson. “Our titles in the media business overall have different degrees of reliance on advertising revenues; and competition for the various forms of advertising (again principally from online sources) is of course very significant.”

Shortlist Media, which shut down the men’s magazine ShortList in November, is continuing with its long-term strategy to shift the major revenue stream from print to multi-platform, content-based solutions.