Publishing group Reach has reported a 23.1% rise in operating profit to £44.5m in the six months to the end of June.

This was against a 5.2% decline in revenue to £265m in the group’s first half, a figure that included a digital revenue of £60m, which was broadly in line with the group’s expectations for H1.

Reach, the publisher of newspaper titles including the Daily Mirror, Daily Star and Daily Express, also reported that both a print circulation revenue of £149.9m and print advertising revenue of £32.7m outperformed the group’s volume decline, which remains in line with historical trends.

“We are pleased to have delivered further operational progress this year, with our commercial and editorial teams making the most of the strong news agenda,” chief executive at Reach, Jim Mullen, said.

Reach stated that it remains focused on delivering operational plans for the year as it builds a “more sustainable digital business”, which includes progress on its customer value strategy.

The publisher suggested that this strategy has improved the group’s “data-driven revenue growth” of 9% to £27.2m, which compared to £24.9m in H1 2023. These revenues now represent 45% of total digital revenues, up from 41% last year.

“Our customer value strategy continues to deliver long-term success, with an increasing share of data-driven digital revenue as well as digital growth returning in Q2,” added Mullen. “Alongside our expertise in managing our print product, we have traded our digital assets hard and delivered an operating margin improvement.

“We continue to build a stronger, more resilient business and are on track with our plans for the year.”

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