Annual Results for 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014

RNS Number : 1732G
Trinity Mirror PLC
02 March 2015
 



Trinity Mirror plc

 

2 March 2015

Annual Results Announcement

For the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014

Key Highlights

·       Adjusted (1) profit before tax of £102.3 million, up 1.0%

Group revenue fell by 4.1% compared to a decline of 6.0% for 2013. Publishing digital revenue continued to grow by almost 50% throughout the year. Tight management of the cost base with structural cost savings of £15 million, £5 million ahead of target, and a fall in interest costs, underpinned the growth in adjusted profit before tax.

·      Adjusted (1) earnings per share growth of 2.5% to 32.8 pence

Increased adjusted profit before tax and a fall in the rate of corporation tax led to increased adjusted earnings per share. Statutory earnings per share increased from a loss of 39.0 pence to earnings of 28.1 pence as 2013 was impacted by a £225.0 million impairment charge.

·      Strong cash flows enabling net debt (2) to fall by £77.7 million to £19.3 million

Strong cash flow is after pre paying £17.0 million of pension deficit funding payments from future periods and includes the benefit of £16.0 million of dividends from associates. Since the year end the Group has received special dividends totalling £12.0 million from Local World.

·      Board proposes a final dividend of 3 pence per ordinary share, the first dividend since 2008

A final dividend for 2014 of 3 pence per ordinary share, payable on 4 June 2015, is proposed for shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 7 May 2015.

·      Continued strong growth in digital audience and revenue

Average monthly unique users (3) grew by 87% year on year to 73.2 million and average monthly page views (3) grew by 97% year on year to 509.4 million across our publishing operations with publishing digital revenue growing by almost 50%.

·      Civil claims arising from phone hacking

As the process of dealing with the civil claims arising from phone hacking has progressed it has become evident that the cost of resolving these claims will be higher than previously envisaged. As previously announced we have charged a provision of £12.0 million in 2014 for dealing with and resolving these claims. It remains uncertain as to how these matters will progress.

·      Strategy unchanged and remains on track

Continued focus on digital investment and growth combined with print market outperformance and tight management of the cost base including further targeted structural cost savings of £10 million in 2015. The Board expects performance for 2015 to be in line with expectations.

 

Results

 

                   Adjusted results (1)

                   Statutory results


2014

2013

2014

2013


£m

£m

£m

£m

Revenue

636.3

663.8

636.3

663.8

Operating profit/(loss)

105.5

108.0

98.6

(134.8)

Profit/(loss) before tax

102.3

101.3

81.6

(160.8)

Earnings/(loss) per share

32.8p

32.0p

28.1p

(39.0)p

 

(1)   Adjusted items relate to the exclusion of non-recurring items (share of non-recurring credit from associate undertakings of £27.2 million and provision for historical legal issues of £12.0 million), restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures, the amortisation of intangible assets, the retranslation of foreign currency borrowings, the impact of fair value changes on derivative financial instruments, the pension finance charge, the pension administrative expenses and the impact of tax legislation changes. Set out in note 16 is the reconciliation between the statutory results and the adjusted results.

(2)   On a contracted basis assuming that the private placement loan notes and related cross-currency interest rate swaps are not terminated prior to maturity.

(3)   Average monthly unique users and page views for the Publishing division across web, mobile and apps for January to December 2014 versus January to December 2013.



 

Commenting on the annual results for 2014, Simon Fox, Chief Executive, Trinity Mirror plc, said:

"I am pleased with the financial and strategic progress we have made in 2014. We continue to invest across the Group in people and technology and this is delivering significant growth in digital audience and revenue. Whilst print has remained challenging, our continued focus on efficiency and cost management has resulted in another year of profit growth and strong cash flow which has enabled us to significantly reduce net debt and propose a final dividend for 2014, the first since 2008. I am grateful to all our colleagues for their contribution to this performance.

At the end of the year I implemented a new streamlined management structure and I am confident that this will accelerate our focus on delivering sustainable growth in revenue and profit. The Board expects performance for 2015 to be in line with expectations."

Enquiries

 


Trinity Mirror


Simon Fox, Chief Executive

020 7293 3553

Vijay Vaghela, Group Finance Director

020 7293 3553

Brunswick


Mike Smith, Partner

020 7404 5959

Jon Drage, Director

020 7404 5959

 

 

Investor presentation

A presentation for analysts will be held at 9.30am on Monday 2 March 2015. The presentation will be live on our website: www.trinitymirror.com at 9.30am and a playback will be available from 2.00pm.

 

Annual Report

The Annual Report for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 is available on the Company's website at www.trinitymirror.com and at the Company's registered office at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP and will be sent to shareholders who have elected to receive a hard copy by the end of March 2015.

 

Statutory and adjusted basis

In the Management Report, performance is stated on an adjusted basis to provide a more meaningful comparison of the Group's performance. The adjusted results aim to provide an underlying performance of the Group without the volatility created by restructuring charges, non-recurring items and non-cash accounting items. Set out in note 16 is the reconciliation between the statutory results and the adjusted results. The results of fish4, our national digital recruitment site, which were previously reported in the Specialist Digital division, are now reported in the Publishing division following an internal restructure with fish4 now fully integrated into the Publishing division. Further details of the reclassification, which has no impact on Group revenue or operating profit, is shown in note 3.

 

Forward looking statements

Statements contained in this Annual Results Announcement are based on the knowledge and information available to the Company's directors at the date it was prepared and therefore the facts stated and views expressed may change after that date. By their nature, the statements concerning the risks and uncertainties facing the Company in this Annual Results Announcement involve uncertainty since future events and circumstances can cause results and developments to differ materially from those anticipated. To the extent that this Annual Results Announcement contains any statement dealing with any time after the date of its preparation such statement is merely predictive and speculative as it relates to events and circumstances which are yet to occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.



 

Management Report

Operational Highlights

Key operational highlights during the year were:

·           The Daily Mirror continued to outperform the red top market in terms of year on year circulation trends.

·           The Daily Record remains the leading news brand in Scotland with a total audience of 3 million.

·           We successfully launched the Sunday Echo in Liverpool expanding our market leading Liverpool Echo to a seven day publication.

·           Continued enhancement of our digital products across the portfolio and roll out of a new look national jobs site.

·           Increased focus on video saw the Mirror site exceeding 10 million video streams in a month.

·           Regional sites digital audience close to doubled following the implementation of the Newsroom 3.1 initiative to put digital at the heart of our news gathering operation.

·           Trinity Mirror Solutions (TMS), previously NASA, was unveiled with a new structure and management to improve our offer to advertisers.

·           Continued new business development including the launch of PinPoint and a football betting app.

·        Senior appointments including James Wildman as Chief Revenue Officer of TMS and Pete Picton as Editorial Director of Mirror.co.uk.

Operational Performance

The Group performed robustly in 2014 with good progress made on our strategic initiatives enabling us to deliver solid profits and cash flow from print and strong growth in digital audience and revenue.

Revenue fell by 4.1% compared to a decline of 6.0% for 2013. Revenue trends improved as we progressed through the first half with a more challenging market impacting performance in the second half. Print advertising revenue fell by 14.1% in the second half compared to a decline of 8.8% in the first half. For the Publishing division, revenue fell by 4.2% to £554.0 million with print revenue falling by 6.3% to £521.6 million and digital revenue growing by 47.3% to £32.4 million. A key driver of the slowdown in print revenue has been retail advertising, in particular supermarket spend.

Operating costs fell by £25.7 million reflecting the benefit of structural cost savings of £15 million, £5 million ahead of target, and ongoing cost mitigation actions which have more than offset increased investment in digital of £8 million and inflationary cost increases, in particular newsprint prices which increased by some 5% year on year.

Our share of results of associates fell by £0.7 million to £6.1 million with growth in PA Group ('the PA') and Local World offset by the disposal of MeteoGroup by the PA in March 2014. A dividend of £12.9 million from the PA was received in July 2014. Local World paid its first dividend with £3.1 million received in August 2014 and since the year end we have received further special dividends totalling £12.0 million. The Group has now received dividends in excess of the £14.2 million invested in Local World.

The fall in operating costs limited the reduction in operating profit to £2.5 million or 2.3%. Earnings per share grew by 2.5% to 32.8 pence as the Group benefited from lower interest costs on reduced debt levels and from a fall in the rate of corporation tax.

The Group incurred £14.0 million of restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures and reported a net non-recurring credit of £15.2 million including a £27.5 million share of the non-recurring gain from the PA's disposal of MeteoGroup and a provision of £12.0 million for dealing with and resolving civil claims in relation to phone hacking.

Financial Flexibility

Net debt fell by £77.7 million to £19.3 million. Following the repayment from cash flows of £44.2 million of maturing loan notes in June 2014, the final remaining debt payment of £68.3 million is due in June 2017. In July 2014, the Group negotiated a new £60 million bank facility which is committed until July 2018. Cash balances at the reporting date were £49.0 million.

The Group has aligned the triennial valuations of the principal defined benefit pension schemes to 31 December 2013. These valuations were finalised in December 2014 with annual deficit funding payments agreed at £36.2 million per annum for 2015, 2016 and 2017. Given the strong cash flows generated by the business, the Group pre paid £17.0 million of contributions due in 2015 and 2016. Therefore, contributions due in 2015, 2016 and 2017 will be £19.7 million, £35.7 million and £36.2 million respectively with annual contributions thereafter of some £36 million per annum. The pre payment of pension contributions is an efficient use of cash as interest rates on cash balances are low and the tax relief on the pre payment will crystallise by April 2015.

The strengthened balance sheet and strong cash flows of the business provides increased financial flexibility for both investment opportunities and the return of capital to shareholders alongside appropriately funding our pension schemes.
 

Historical Legal Issues

The Group continues to co-operate with the Metropolitan Police Service in respect of Operation Elveden (the investigation relating to alleged inappropriate payments to public officials) and Operation Golding (the investigation into alleged phone hacking).

In July 2014, after our ongoing investigations revealed that phone hacking had taken place at the Group, a provision of £4.0 million was made to cover the cost of dealing with and resolving civil claims from individuals in relation to phone hacking. In the second half of the year a number of claims have been settled and a subsidiary, MGN Limited, has admitted liability to a number of individuals who had sued the company for alleged interception of their voicemails many years ago. As we progressed with dealing with the civil claims it has become evident that the cost of resolving these claims will be higher than previously envisaged. The provision of £4.0 million made at the half year for dealing with and resolving these claims has increased by a further £8.0 million. Inevitably, there remains ongoing uncertainty as to how matters will progress and whether or not new allegations or claims will emerge and their possible financial impact. Due to this uncertainty a contingent liability has been highlighted in note 17.

The intrusion into peoples' lives through the unlawful practice of phone hacking is unacceptable. We apologise to the victims of phone hacking and published an open apology in our three national newspapers in February 2015.

Press regulation

The Group, along with the vast majority of national and regional newspaper and magazine publishers, has entered into a contract to be regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation ("IPSO").

We recognise that the reputation of the British press has been severely damaged by the findings of the Leveson Inquiry and we welcome the new regime and high regulatory standards that will be required under IPSO.

Following an independent process, IPSO has appointed its first Chairman, Sir Alan Moses, and its first Board. IPSO became fully operational from September 2014.

Dividends

The Board is proposing a final dividend for 2014 of 3 pence per ordinary share which, subject to shareholder approval, will be paid on 4 June 2015 to shareholders on the register on 8 May 2015. The Board expects to adopt a progressive dividend policy aligned to the free cash generation of the Group and the investment required to deliver sustainable growth in revenues and profits. At this stage the Board expects to pay dividends of some 5 pence per ordinary share in 2015. The final dividend for 2014 will be the first dividend since the suspension of dividends in 2008.

Outlook

The revenue trends in 2015 will be adversely impacted by the closure of a number of regional titles in the South in December 2014 and a change to the newsprint supply agreement for the Independent and i from January 2015. The titles closures contributed £4.5 million of revenue in 2014. The supply of newsprint to the Independent and i generated revenues and costs of £11.1 million in 2014 with no impact on profit.

In the first 2 months of the year digital audience and revenue growth has remained strong with our digital audience hitting 100 million unique users for the first time in January 2015. Print circulation volume and advertising trends have continued at the level experienced at the end of 2014. Circulation revenue has been impacted by the decision not to increase the cover price of the Daily Mirror. 

A continued focus on costs, with further targeted structural savings of £10 million in 2015, combined with the benefit of lower newsprint prices and ongoing progress with our strategy, provides the Board with confidence that performance for the current year will be in line with expectations.

Strategic Update

We continue to make progress towards delivering our vision "of being a dynamic and growing media business that is an essential part of our customers' daily lives". Our clear goal to deliver sustainable growth in revenues and profits will be delivered through four key areas of strategic focus:

·          Protecting and revitalising our core brands in print;

·          Growing our existing brands onto digital delivery channels;

·          Continuing our relentless focus on efficiency and cost management; and

·          Launching, developing, investing in or acquiring new businesses built around distinctive content or audience.

The strategy remains unchanged with focus on digital investment and growth combined with print market outperformance and tight management of the cost base.

Key highlights of progress on each area of strategic focus in the year were:

Protecting and revitalising our core brands in print

·           The Daily Mirror has continued to outperform the red top market in terms of year on year circulation trends in 2014. During the year we launched the second phase of our #Madeuthink brand campaign, positioning the Daily Mirror as the "intelligent tabloid" to differentiate the Daily Mirror from other titles in the red top market. The recent National Readership Survey Print and Digital Data figures show the Daily Mirror's combined print and digital monthly audience at 17 million, second only to the Daily Mail with 23 million. The same data shows the Daily Record remains the leading news brand in Scotland with a total audience of 3 million.

·           Trinity Mirror Solutions was unveiled as the new name and brand identity of our national advertising commercial business. A new structure, including three new senior roles, has been implemented to better combine the potential of TMS's brands and audiences for the benefit of advertisers. We invested in a 25 strong cross media sales innovation unit combining the skills of our sales team with that of business planners, researchers, designers and writers to create and sell innovative cross media advertising solutions for growing numbers of new and existing clients.

·           The Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror have increased print advertising market share with one of the major contributory factors being the success of new packages such as "Big City" and "Sunday Best" which combine the full scale and reach of the Trinity Mirror portfolio by combining the sales of our major regional newspapers with our national brands to provide media planners and buyers with a brand new mass market audience proposition. We re-launched and rebranded the Sunday People magazine to become "Love Sunday" with positive feedback from both readers and advertisers. In Scotland, the Sunday Mail won Newspaper of the Year in the Scottish Press Awards.

·           As the best watched TV awards show on UK terrestrial TV, the annual "Pride of Britain Awards" continues to go from strength to strength. During the year we continued to expand our 'Pride of ....' series launching the "Pride of Ireland Awards" and the "Pride of Birmingham Awards". In Scotland, the Daily Record held its eleventh "Our Heroes" awards.

·           In our regional markets we continue to adapt and refresh our newspapers to ensure they are increasingly relevant and appealing to our readers and advertisers. Our group wide technology platform gives us the capability to add new products on multiple platforms with a minimal increase in costs or resource. One such example is the successful launch of the Sunday Echo in Liverpool which has allowed us to increase our audience on a Sunday both in print and online through the provision of more comprehensive football content. All of our major regional daily newspapers are now distributed through the wholesale infrastructure with resulting cost and logistical benefits.

·           We continue to challenge the appropriateness of the regional newspaper portfolio and this has led to a rationalisation of our newspaper titles in the South with the closure of seven newspapers at the end of the year.

Growing our existing brands onto digital delivery channels

·        A new editorial structure, Newsroom 3.1, has been implemented in the regional newsrooms to support a digital first publishing process providing content for our rapidly growing digital audience, whilst at the same time producing strong newspapers. The implementation of Newsroom 3.1 which put digital news gathering and audience analytics at the heart of our regional newsrooms has led to a near doubling of our regional digital audiences. This structure, combined with a focus on mobile, social, data journalism and community engagement has put us ahead of other regional news brands. Our national news brands also underwent newsroom reorganisations to better serve growing multi-platform audience.

·           The strong growth in total unique users and page views has continued during the year. Our average monthly unique users and average monthly page views for the Publishing division across web, mobile and apps for the year have grown year on year by 87% to 73.2 million and by 97% to 509.4 million respectively. In December, monthly unique users were 81.7 million and monthly page views were 570.7 million. This has driven strong growth in digital display advertising all year with growth of 101.4%. We continue to refresh our websites to increase user engagement whilst ensuring we can drive revenues through a range of advertising formats. 

·           We have enhanced the digital classified platforms across our regional websites and have rolled out our new platforms for recruitment, What's On, Buysell and BMDs. Fish4Jobs, our leading recruitment portal, has unveiled a new look national job site with responsive web design and a fresh, new brand identity.

 

·           We are investing to increase the quality and volume of video across our websites. The commercial opportunities are significant as video commands the highest revenue per thousand views on our websites. The Mirror site exceeded 10 million video streams in a month at the end of the year, up from 3 million at the start of the year.

·           Our Data Journalism Unit made good progress during the year and the data journalism site Ampp3d continues to grow. The team issued the 'NHS S.O.S' 16 page pullout investigation into the future of the NHS, produced in collaboration with Sunday Mirror journalists, built a First World War search tool enabling users to look up relatives who were killed in the 1914-18 conflict and produced the second 'Real School Guides' which was published across our regional titles.

·           We continue to drive new commercial partnerships to diversify and drive digital revenues and have entered into a new partnership for the provision of bingo and other online games. We launched the Mirror and Record's new bingo and casino platforms in July. Mirror Matches our new dating site, went live in August.

·           We continue to gain good traction with the e-edition for the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. Our free Monday to Friday editions of the Daily Mirror had in excess of 56,000 Publication Active Views in December and the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror are available through subscription over the weekend with over 11,000 paid for subscribers.

Continuing our relentless focus on efficiency and cost management

·           Operating costs fell by £25.7 million reflecting the benefit of structural cost savings of £15 million and ongoing cost mitigation actions which have more than offset increased investment in digital of £8 million and inflationary cost increases, in particular newsprint prices which increased by some 5% year on year. Further structural cost savings of £10 million are targeted in 2015.

·           Savings in the year have been driven through the outsourcing of IT support and services functions, the restructure of editorial and advertising functions, the streamlining of the senior management team and a range of other smaller initiatives across the Group.

Launching, developing, investing in or acquiring new businesses built around distinctive content or audience

·           Our investment in Local World continues to deliver strong returns with our share of post tax profit for the year up £0.1 million to £5.2 million.

·           Our product development team continues to launch new and innovative products. Pinpoint, a mobile geo-targeting product for advertisers and a new version of Mirror Football with integrated, content-driven betting (in partnership with Paddy Power) were both launched during the year. A digital content syndication licensing tool and a public notices application are both in development and due for release in 2015.

·           GoalTime, an all new live football betting pool game, was developed and floated as Contagious Sports Inc on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Our investment was converted into equity of the listed entity and we hold 2.2 million shares (valued at £0.7 million at the reporting date). UsVsTh3m has now been integrated into Mirror.co.uk.

·           The new technology platform that we have rolled out across the business provides significant flexibility for the launch, development or integration of acquisitions built around distinctive content or audience.

Management changes

We have made a number of significant appointments during the year including James Wildman as Chief Revenue Officer of Trinity Mirror Solutions and Pete Picton as Editorial Director for Mirror.co.uk. James joined us from his position as Yahoo MD for UK and Ireland and brings with him a wealth of experience in sales and marketing in a global digital business. Pete is an experienced digital journalist and was the former deputy editor of Mail Online.

We have welcomed, amongst others, Rachel Stock as Group HR Director, Andy Atkinson to the role of Trinity Mirror Solutions Sales Director; Piers North as Trinity Mirror Solutions Strategy Director; Oliver Gerrish as Head of Digital Analytics; Bob Cuff as Managing Director of Teesside; Stuart Birkett as Managing Director of the North East and Will Handley has been appointed Marketing Director within Trinity Mirror's New Business Division.

These appointments evidence the progress in developing Trinity Mirror as an employer of choice for digital and commercial talent.

We have also streamlined the senior management structure with Steve Anderson-Dixon appointed as Managing Director, Trinity Mirror Regionals, Allan Rennie as Managing Director, Media Scotland, Neil Jagger as General Manager, UK Nationals and Lloyd Embley as Group Editor in Chief.



Group Review


            Statutory results

       Adjusted results


2014

2013

2014

2013

 


£m

£m

£m

£m

 

Revenue





 

Publishing*

554.0

578.4

554.0

578.4

 

   Print

521.6

556.4

521.6

556.4

 

   Digital*

32.4

22.0

32.4

22.0

 

Printing

64.5

65.7

64.5

65.7

 

Specialist Digital*

14.5

16.7

14.5

16.7

 

Central

3.3

3.0

3.3

3.0

 

Revenue

636.3

663.8

636.3

663.8

 

Costs

(568.3)

(801.9)

(536.9)

(562.6)

 

Associates

30.6

3.3

6.1

6.8

 

Operating profit(/loss)

98.6

(134.8)

105.5

108.0

 

Financing

(17.0)

(26.0)

(3.2)

(6.7)

 

Profit/(loss) before tax

81.6

(160.8)

102.3

101.3

 

Tax (charge)/credit

(11.8)

64.4

(21.0)

(22.2)

 

Profit/(loss) after tax

69.8

(96.4)

81.3

79.1

 

Earnings/(loss) per share

28.1p

(39.0)p

32.8p

32.0p

 

* Following a change in management structure, the Group has reclassified the revenue and results of fish4 from the Specialist Digital operating segment to the Publishing operating segment. The revision to the operating segments has had no impact on the revenue or operating profit of the Group. The 2013 comparatives have been restated as a result of this change. Note 3 sets out the impact of this change on the previously reported results.

The results have been prepared for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (2014) and the comparative period has been prepared for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2013 (2013). The results are presented on a statutory and adjusted basis to provide a more meaningful comparison of the Group's performance. Set out in note 16 is the reconciliation between the statutory results and the adjusted results.

Revenue fell by £27.5 million or 4.1% to £636.3 million compared to a decline of 6.0% for 2013. The revenue trends improved as we progressed through the first half with a weaker performance in the second half. Print advertising revenue fell in the second half by 14.1% compared to a decline of 8.8% in the first half. Further details on the revenue trends for each division are shown in the Divisional Review.

Statutory costs include non-recurring items, the amortisation of other intangible assets, the pension administrative expenses and the restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures which are excluded from the adjusted results.

 


               Statutory results

                       Adjusted results

 


2014

2013

2014

2013


£m

£m

£m

£m

Labour

(196.1)

(210.0)

(196.1)

(210.0)

Newsprint

(97.5)

(102.3)

(97.5)

(102.3)

Depreciation

(24.5)

(26.4)

(24.5)

(26.4)

Other

(250.2)

(463.2)

(218.8)

(223.9)

Non-recurring items

(12.0)

(224.4)

-

-

Amortisation of other intangible assets

(2.2)

(2.2)

-

-

Pension administrative expenses

(3.2)

(2.8)

-

-

Restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures

(14.0)

(9.9)

-

-

Other

(218.8)

(223.9)

(218.8)

(223.9)

Costs

(568.3)

(801.9)

(536.9)

(562.6)

Statutory costs fell by £233.6 million or 29.1% to £568.3 million. The fall primarily reflects the impact of the significant £225.0 million impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets taken in the prior year.

Adjusted operating costs fell by £25.7 million reflecting the benefit of structural cost savings of £15 million and ongoing cost mitigation actions which have more than offset increased investment in digital of £8 million and inflationary price increases, in particular newsprint prices which increased by some 5% year on year.

The Group has a 21.5% investment in PA Group and a 20.0% investment in Local World, accounted for as associated undertakings.


               Statutory results

            Adjusted results


2014

2013

2014

2013

 


£m

£m

£m

£m

 

Result before amortisation and non-recurring items

6.1

6.8

6.1

6.8

 

Amortisation of other intangible assets

(2.7)

(3.0)

-

-

 

Non-recurring items

27.2

(0.5)

-

-

 

Share of results of associates

30.6

3.3

6.1

6.8

 

The statutory share of the post tax profits from associates increased by £27.3 million to £30.6 million. The non-recurring items comprise our £27.5 million share of the gain on the disposal by the PA of its weather forecasting business, MeteoGroup, our £0.4 million share of the profit of MeteoGroup recorded by the PA up to the date of completion less our £0.7 million share of restructuring costs incurred by the PA and Local World. Adjusted share of post tax profit from associates fell by £0.7 million to £6.1 million. This includes a reduction in the contribution from the PA of £0.8 million to £0.9 million following its disposal of MeteoGroup which has been partially offset by an increase in our share of post tax profit of Local World of £0.1 million to £5.2 million.

Statutory operating profit increased by £233.4 million to £98.6 million primarily reflecting the significant impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets taken in the prior year and our share of the exceptional gain by the PA on their disposal of MeteoGroup in the current year. Adjusted operating profit fell by £2.5 million or 2.3% to £105.5 million with operating margin pre associates improving by 0.4 percentage points from 15.2% to 15.6%.

 


        Statutory results

                Adjusted results


2014

2013

2014

2013


£m

£m

£m

£m

Investment revenues

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.3

Pension finance charge

(11.2)

(13.2)

-

-

Finance costs

(6.1)

(13.1)

(3.5)

(7.0)

Interest on bank overdrafts and borrowings

(3.5)

(7.0)

(3.5)

(7.0)

Fair value loss on derivative financial instruments

(0.3)

(8.8)

-

-

Foreign exchange (loss)/gain on retranslation of borrowings

(2.3)

2.7

-

-

Financing

(17.0)

(26.0)

(3.2)

(6.7)

Statutory financing costs which include the pension finance charge, the change in derivative financial instruments and the foreign exchange changes on retranslation of foreign currency borrowings fell by £9.0 million to £17.0 million. Adjusted financing costs fell by £3.5 million to £3.2 million reflecting the benefit of the material fall in long term debt and the continued benefit of the low interest rate environment.

The statutory tax charge of £11.8 million (2013: credit of £64.4 million) comprises a current tax charge of £13.8 million (2013: £18.1 million) and a deferred tax credit of £2.0 million (2013: £82.5 million). The effective tax rate is lower than the standard rate of corporation tax as the share of results of associates is post tax. The adjusted tax charge of £21.0 million (2013: £22.2 million) represents 20.5% (2013: 21.9%) of adjusted profit before tax and reflects the benefit of the reduction in the rate of corporation tax from 23.0% to 21.0% on 1 April 2014.

 


                 Statutory results

                Adjusted results


2014

2013

2014

2013


£m

£m

£m

£m

Profit/(loss) after tax

69.8

(96.4)

81.3

79.1

Weighted average number of shares (000's)

248,108

247,328

248,108

247,328

Earnings/(loss) per share

28.1p

(39.0)p

32.8p

32.0p

Statutory earnings per share increased by 67.1 pence or 172.1% to 28.1 pence and adjusted earnings per share increased by 0.8 pence or 2.5% to 32.8 pence. The increase in the weighted average number of shares year on year reflects the impact of the 3,408,484 share options exercised during the year and the 1,652,091 share options exercised during the prior year partially offset by the 1,391,620 of shares acquired by the Trustees of the Trinity Mirror Employee Benefit Trust in the year and the 2,600,000 shares acquired in the prior year.


 

Divisional Review

The Group has four operating segments, each of which is a division, that are regularly reviewed for the purposes of allocating resources and assessing performance. The divisional review that follows is presented on an adjusted basis and there is no difference between the operating profit by division and the segment result of each operating segment that is shown in note 3.

The operating segments are: Publishing which includes all of our newspapers and associated digital publishing; Printing which provides printing services to the publishing segment and to third parties; Specialist Digital which includes our acquired digital recruitment classified business and our digital marketing services businesses; and Central which includes revenue and costs not allocated to the operational divisions and our share of results of associates.

The revenue and adjusted operating profit by operating segment is presented below:


2014

2013

Variance

Variance


£m

£m

£m

%

Publishing*

554.0

578.4

(24.4)

(4.2)

Printing

64.5

65.7

(1.2)

(1.8)

Specialist Digital*

14.5

16.7

(2.2)

(13.2)

Central

3.3

3.0

0.3

10.0

Revenue

636.3

663.8

(27.5)

(4.1)

Publishing*

113.5

118.5

(5.0)

(4.2)

Printing

-

-

-

-

Specialist Digital*

2.0

0.4

1.6

400.0

Central

(10.0)

(10.9)

0.9

8.3

Adjusted Operating profit

105.5

108.0

(2.5)

(2.3)

* Following a change in management structure, the Group has reclassified the revenue and results of fish4 from the Specialist Digital operating segment to the Publishing operating segment. The revision to the operating segments has had no impact on the revenue or operating profit of the Group. The 2013 comparatives have been restated as a result of this change. Note 3 sets out the impact of this change on the previously reported results.

Publishing

The revenue and operating profit for the Publishing division is as follows:


2014

2013

Variance

Variance


£m

£m

£m

%

Print

521.6

556.4

(34.8)

(6.3)

   Circulation

279.8

285.8

(6.0)

(2.1)

   Advertising

209.2

236.3

(27.1)

(11.5)

   Other

32.6

34.3

(1.7)

(5.0)

Digital*

32.4

22.0

10.4

47.3

   Advertising*

28.5

19.2

9.3

48.4

   Other

3.9

2.8

1.1

39.3

Revenue*

554.0

578.4

(24.4)

(4.2)

Costs*

(440.5)

(459.9)

19.4

4.2

Operating profit*

113.5

118.5

(5.0)

(4.2)

Operating margin*

20.5%

20.5%

-

-

* Comparatives restated for fish4. Note 3 sets out the impact of this change on the previously reported results.

Revenue fell by 4.2% or £24.4 million to £554.0 million with print revenue declining by 6.3% and digital revenue growing by 47.3%. This compares to a decline in print of 6.7% and growth in digital of 2.3% in the prior year.

Circulation revenue fell by 2.1% reflecting the benefit of cover price increases which are helping offset the impact of falling volumes.

The Daily Mirror continues to outperform the market with a volume decline of 7.4% compared to a 7.8% decline in the UK national daily tabloid market. The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People declined by 9.8% and 10.8% respectively in a UK national Sunday tabloid market that declined by 9.9%. The Daily Record was down 10.7% against an overall Scottish daily tabloid market decline of 9.7% and the Sunday Mail was down 12.3% against an overall Scottish Sunday tabloid market decline of 11.3%.

The Sunday market remains challenging with continued competitive pricing in the popular Sunday market with our titles at a premium to all titles in our market.


The market for our regional titles remains difficult with declines of 13.3% for paid for dailies, 15.0% for paid for weeklies and 18.8% for paid for Sundays. This excludes the launch in January 2014 of the Sunday Echo in Liverpool. Whist we have a number of individual titles performing strongly relative to the market our overall trends are disappointing.

Print advertising fell by 11.5% with display lower by 10.3%, classified lower by 13.2% and other categories down by 11.5%. Whilst the print advertising market remains challenging and volatile we are encouraged by the improved trends in recruitment.

The Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror have grown print advertising volume market share with the Daily Mirror growing share from 18.4% to 18.5% and the Sunday Mirror growing share from 17.1% to 17.6%. The Sunday People share remained at 10.9%. The Daily Record share improved from 14.7% to 15.0% and the Sunday Mail share declined from 27.7% to 26.3% against the main Scottish competitor set having been impacted by circulation trends being marginally worse than the market.

For our regional newspapers, we believe our print advertising performance is broadly in line with market trends although we have materially improved classified recruitment trends with a decline of only 4.5% compared to a decline of 24.9% during last year.

Other print revenue declined by 5.0% driven by continued pressure on leaflets, lower waste sales and lower third party services revenues partially offset by higher events revenue and sports publishing contract revenue. The benefit from new contracts secured by our sports contract publishing business including the match day programmes contract for Manchester United were partly offset by changes to other contracts from a profit share arrangement to a fixed management fee.

Digital revenue increased by 47.3% year on year driven by strong growth in our publishing digital audience with average monthly unique users increasing 87% to 73.2 million year on year with average monthly page views increasing 97% to 509.4 million year on year. In December, unique users were 81.7 million and page views were 570.7 million.

Digital advertising revenue increased by 48.4% year on year. Digital display revenue has seen strong growth all year with growth of 101.4%. Digital classified revenue fell marginally by 0.2% with recruitment recovering following the internal changes made in prior years with growth of 13.2%. Other classified categories of motors and property remain challenging with dominant competitors. The remaining classified categories are also challenging and we are improving our offering in these areas such as through new platforms for What's On (local entertainment), Buysell (private ads) and BMDs (births, marriages and death notices).

Digital other revenue increased by 39.3% benefiting from the growth in audience and new commercial partnerships.

Costs fell by £19.4 million or 4.2% to £440.5 million. This includes structural cost savings and the continued tight management of the cost base to help mitigate the impact of a challenging print market. The fall in costs is after the impact of an increase in newsprint prices and increased investment in digital resources and product development.

Although revenues fell by £24.4 million, operating profit fell by only £5.0 million or 4.2% to £113.5 million. Operating margin remained the same as the prior year at 20.5%.

Printing

The revenue and costs of the Printing division is as follows:


2014

2013

Variance

Variance


£m

£m

£m

%

Contract printing

37.6

38.4

(0.8)

(2.1)

Newsprint supply

24.3

24.6

(0.3)

(1.2)

Other revenue

2.6

2.7

(0.1)

(3.7)

Revenue

64.5

65.7

(1.2)

(1.8)

External costs

(188.9)

(198.4)

9.5

4.8

Publishing division recharge

124.4

132.7

(8.3)

(6.3)

Operating result

-

-

-

-

 

Revenues fell by £1.2 million or 1.8% to £64.5 million. Revenues from contract printing fell by £0.8 million or 2.1% to £37.6 million. Revenue from newsprint supplied to contract print customers fell due to lower volumes despite higher newsprint prices.

External costs fell by £9.5 million or 4.8% to £188.9 million due to the costs associated with increases in contract printing revenues and inflationary cost increases including the newsprint price increase more than offset by cost reduction initiatives.

During the period, the Printing division secured an extension to its print contracts for the Daily Mail, Independent and i. As part of these new contracts the Group will no longer supply newsprint to the Independent and i. The change in the newsprint supply agreement has no impact on profits, but will reduce revenues and costs for newsprint supply. In 2014 the annual revenues and costs of newsprint supplied to the Independent and i was £11.1 million.

The net cost recharge to the Publishing division was £124.4 million compared to £132.7 million in the prior year. This fall in costs reflects the impact of an increase in newsprint prices and other inflationary cost increases more than offset by cost savings and the contribution from third party contracts.

Specialist Digital

The revenue and operating profit of the Specialist Digital division is as follows:


2014

2013

Variance

Variance


£m

£m

£m

%

Advertising*

4.8

7.2

(2.4)

(33.3)

Other

9.7

9.5

0.2

2.1

Revenue*

14.5

16.7

(2.2)

(13.2)

Costs*

(12.5)

(16.3)

3.8

23.3

Operating profit*

2.0

0.4

1.6

400.0

* Comparatives restated for fish4. Note 3 sets out the impact of this change on the previously reported results.

 

The Specialist Digital division includes Trinity Mirror Digital Recruitment, our digital classified recruitment vertical and Rippleffect and Communicator, our digital marketing services businesses. Trinity Mirror Digital Property, a digital classified property vertical was sold at the end of August 2013.

Excluding Trinity Mirror Digital Property, revenue fell marginally by £0.3 million and operating profit grew by £1.8 million. The increase in operating profit is driven by growth in our digital marketing services businesses and a major restructure of the recruitment business with the transfer of the business onto a new technology platform and rationalisation of the portfolio to focus on the three key brands of GAAPweb, SecsintheCity and totallylegal.

Central

The revenue and operating loss of the Central division is as follows:


2014

2013

Variance

Variance


£m

£m

£m

%

Revenue

3.3

3.0

0.3

10.0

Costs

(19.4)

(20.7)

1.3

6.3

Associates

6.1

6.8

(0.7)

(10.3)

Operating loss

(10.0)

(10.9)

0.9

8.3

 

The Central division includes revenue and costs not allocated to the operational divisions and the share of results of associates. The result for the year was a loss of £10.0 million compared to a loss of £10.9 million in the prior year.

Revenue primarily relates to rental income from surplus office space at the Group's main office at Canary Wharf which increased as more vacant space was leased to third parties.

Costs fell by £1.3 million from £20.7 million to £19.4 million reflecting cost savings more than offsetting investment in new business development.

The fall in the share of results of associates is due to the PA reducing by £0.8 million to £0.9 million due to the impact of the disposal of MeteoGroup by the PA partially offset by Local World increasing by £0.1 million to £5.2 million.



 

Other Items

Pensions

The Group operates a defined contribution pension scheme with contributions and associated costs charged to operating profit. The defined benefit pension schemes operated by the Group were closed to future accrual in 2010.

The valuations of the principal schemes as at 31 December 2013 were completed on 9 December 2014. Deficit funding contributions have been agreed at £36.2 million for 2015, 2016 and 2017. In addition, the Group has agreed that in respect of dividend payments, additional contributions at 50% of the excess would be paid if dividends in 2015 were above 5 pence per share. For 2016 and 2017 the threshold increases in line with the increase in dividends capped at 10% per annum.

During 2014, contributions paid to the defined benefit pension schemes amounted to £18.2 million being an accelerated payment of £17.0 million and £1.2 million of other contributions. The contributions due in respect of 2014 were prepaid in 2013. In December 2014 the Group pre paid deficit funding contributions of £16.5 million in respect of 2015 and £0.5 million in respect of 2016. The next valuation date of the principal schemes is 31 December 2016 and will be finalised by the end of 2017.

The accounting pension deficit increased during the year by £49.0 million from £252.2 million (£201.8 million net of deferred tax) to £301.2 million (£241.0 million net of deferred tax) reflecting the impact of an increase in liabilities of £47.1 million and a fall in assets of £1.9 million. The increase in liabilities has been driven by a further fall in the real discount rate of 0.40% from 1.05% to 0.65% partially offset by the payment of pensions and a reduction for buy-outs. The demographic assumptions have been updated based on the most recent valuations. The fall in assets was driven by positive return on assets and company contributions being more than offset by the payment of pensions and a reduction for buy-outs. The increase in the accounting pension deficit does not impact the agreed funding commitments.

Net debt

Contracted net debt, assuming that the private placement loan notes and the cross-currency interest rate swaps are not terminated prior to maturity, fell by £77.7 million from £97.0 million to £19.3 million.

Statutory net debt which includes the US$ denominated private placement loan notes at the period end exchange rate and the related cross-currency interest rate swaps at fair value fell by £75.1 million from £88.2 million to £13.1 million. The fair value of the Group's cross-currency interest rate swaps was an asset of £3.2 million and the Sterling amount of the private placement loan notes was £65.3 million.

The Group repaid the maturing loan notes of £44.2 million in June 2014 without the need to draw on the Group's bank facility. The final repayment on the private placement loan notes is £68.3 million in June 2017.

On 25 July 2014, the £110 million bank facility was cancelled and replaced with a £60 million bank facility which is committed until July 2018. The reduced facility reflects the benefit of continued strong cash flows generated by the business and the much reduced leverage of the Group. The Group had no drawings during the year on its bank facilities. Cash balances at the reporting date were £49.0 million.

Capital reduction

Following an impairment of investments held by Trinity Mirror plc during 2013 the Company had a negative balance on the profit and loss of £514.8 million and therefore was not able to pay dividends or undertake any other distribution to shareholders. To ensure the Company was in a position to make distributions to shareholders in the future, the Company applied for court approval for a capital reduction. On 30 April 2014 the High Court of Justice made an Order confirming the reduction of the Company's share premium account by £514.8 million, an amount which eliminated the deficit on the Company's profit and loss account. Profit generated by the Company after 30 April 2014 is available for distribution to shareholders.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The principal risks and uncertainties together with mitigating actions that affected the Group in 2014 and going forward are described in the Trinity Mirror plc 2014 Annual Report. The principal risks and uncertainties are:

·          Strategy - the overall strategy or elements of the strategy are inappropriate and the delivery of the strategy is badly executed;

·          Revenue loss - faster than anticipated loss of revenue from print and failure to deliver new revenue streams to offset print decline and drive revenue growth;

·          Historical legal issues - damage to reputation arising from historical events, direct financial impact from legal claims and distraction of senior management time from delivering the strategy; and

·          Pensions - pension deficits grow at such a rate so as to affect the viability of the Group itself or so that the annual funding costs consume a disproportionate level of cash flow.

Related party transactions

There have been no changes in the nature of related party transactions. Other than the dividends received from associates there were no material transactions during the year.

Going concern

In accordance with LR 9.8.6(3) of the Listing Rules, and in determining whether the Group's annual consolidated financial statements can be prepared on a going concern basis, the directors considered all factors likely to affect its future development, performance and its financial position, including cash flows, liquidity position and borrowing facilities and the risks and uncertainties relating to its business activities. These are set out in this Management Report with further detail provided in the Trinity Mirror plc 2014 Annual Report.

The key factors considered by the directors were as follows:

·      the implications of the volatile economic environment and the structural changes in the market on the Group's revenues and profits. The Group undertakes regular forecasts and projections of trading and identifying areas of focus for management to improve performance and mitigate the impact of any deterioration in the economic outlook and structural challenges;

·      the impact of the competitive environment within which the Group's businesses operate;

·      the impact on our business of key suppliers (in particular newsprint) being unable to meet their obligations to the Group;

·      the impact on our business of key customers being unable to meet their obligations for services provided by the Group; and

·      the committed finance facilities available to the Group. The Group has access to a committed bank facility of £60 million under which drawings can be made with 24 hours' notice and was undrawn at the reporting date. The bank facility is committed to July 2018. The Group also has overdraft facilities of £12 million to meet day-to-day working capital requirements.

Having considered all the factors impacting the Group's businesses, including downside sensitivities, the directors are satisfied that the Group will be able to operate within the terms and conditions of the Group's financing facilities for the foreseeable future.

The directors have reasonable expectations that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the Group's annual consolidated financial statements.

Board changes

During the year there have been a number of changes to the Board. Lee Ginsberg, Helen Stevenson and David Kelly joined the Board as non-executive directors. Mark Hollinshead and Paul Vickers resigned as executive directors and Gary Hoffman resigned as a non-executive director. Donal Smith will not seek re-election as a non-executive director and will retire from the Board at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting on 7 May 2015.

Statement of directors' responsibilities

The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Results Announcement in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The responsibility statement below has been prepared in connection with the Company's full Annual Report for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014. Certain points thereof are not included within this Annual Results Announcement.

The directors confirm to the best of their knowledge:

a)   the consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit and loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and

b)   the Management Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face.

By order of the Board of directors

 

Simon Fox

Vijay Vaghela

Chief Executive

Group Finance Director

 



 

Consolidated income statement

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

 


 

 

notes

 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m

 




Revenue    

3,4

636.3

663.8

Cost of sales


(329.9)

(344.9)

Gross profit


306.4

318.9

Distribution costs


(67.5)

(74.9)

Administrative expenses:




  Non-recurring items:

5



     Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets


-

(225.0)

     Other


(12.0)

0.6

  Amortisation of other intangible assets


(2.2)

(2.2)

  Pension administrative expenses

13

(3.2)

(2.8)

  Restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures


(14.0)

(9.9)

  Other administrative expenses


(139.5)

(142.8)

Share of results of associates:




  Results before non-recurring items and amortisation


6.1

6.8

  Non-recurring items

5

27.2

(0.5)

  Amortisation of other intangible assets


(2.7)

(3.0)

Operating profit/(loss)

3

98.6

(134.8)

Investment revenues

6

0.3

0.3

Pension finance charge

13

(11.2)

(13.2)

Finance costs

7

(6.1)

(13.1)

Profit/(loss) before tax


81.6

(160.8)

Tax (charge)/credit

8

(11.8)

64.4

Profit/(loss) for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent


69.8

(96.4)




Statutory earnings/(loss) per share


2014

Pence

2013

Pence

Earnings/(loss) per share - basic

10

28.1

(39.0)

Earnings/(loss/ per share - diluted

10

27.4

(39.0)





Adjusted* earnings per share


2014

Pence

2013

Pence

Earnings per share - basic

10

32.8

32.0

Earnings per share - diluted

10

32.0

30.7

*Adjusted items relate to the exclusion of non-recurring items (share of non-recurring credit from associate undertakings of £27.2 million and provision for historical legal issues of £12.0 million), restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures, the amortisation of intangible assets, the retranslation of foreign currency borrowings, the impact of fair value changes on derivative financial instruments, the pension finance charge, the pension administrative expenses and the impact of tax legislation changes. Set out in note 16 is the reconciliation between the statutory results and the adjusted results.

 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

 


 

 

notes

 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m

 




Profit/(loss) for the period


69.8

(96.4)





Items that will not be reclassified to profit and loss:




Actuarial (losses)/gains on defined benefit pension schemes

13

(52.8)

42.5

Tax on actuarial (losses)/gains on defined benefit pension schemes

8

10.6

(8.5)

Deferred tax charge resulting from the future change in tax rate

8

-

(8.9)

Share of items recognised by associates


-

(1.0)

Other comprehensive (costs)/income for the period


(42.2)

24.1





Total comprehensive income/(costs) for the period


27.6

(72.3)

 



 

Consolidated cash flow statement

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

 


 

notes

2014

£m

2013

£m

Cash flows from operating activities




Cash generated from operations

11

90.1

92.9

Income tax paid


(17.3)

(22.0)

Net cash inflow from operating activities


72.8

70.9

Investing activities




Interest received


0.3

0.3

Dividends received from associates


16.0

2.3

Proceeds on disposal of subsidiary undertaking


0.9

2.5

Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment


0.2

0.7

Purchases of property, plant and equipment


(6.4)

(8.0)

Acquisition of associate undertaking


-

(14.2)

Net cash received from/(used in) investing activities


11.0

(16.4)

Financing activities




Interest paid on borrowings


(3.9)

(5.7)

Repayment of borrowings


(44.2)

(54.5)

Purchase of shares for LTIP


(2.2)

(3.0)

Net cash used in financing activities


(50.3)

(63.2)

 




Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents


33.5

(8.7)





Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period

12

15.5

24.2

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period

12

49.0

15.5

 

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)


 

 

Share

capital

£m

 

Share premium

account

£m

 

Capital

redemption

reserve

£m

Retained earnings and other reserves

£m

 

 

 

Total

£m

 

At 30 December 2012

(25.8)

(1,121.6)

(4.3)

512.7

(639.0)







Loss for the period

-

-

-

96.4

96.4

Other comprehensive income for the period

-

-

-

(24.1)

(24.1)

Total comprehensive costs for the period

-

-

-

72.3

72.3







Credit to equity for equity-settled share-based payments

-

-

-

(8.0)

(8.0)

Purchase of shares for LTIP

-

-

-

3.0

3.0

At 29 December 2013

(25.8)

(1,121.6)

(4.3)

580.0

(571.7)







Profit for the period

-

-

-

(69.8)

(69.8)

Other comprehensive costs for the period

-

-

-

42.2

42.2

Total comprehensive income for the period

-

-

-

(27.6)

(27.6)







Capital reduction

-

514.8

-

(514.8)

-

Charge to equity for equity-settled share-based payments

-

-

-

2.2

2.2

Purchase of shares for LTIP

-

-

-

2.2

2.2

Reclassification

-

0.1

(0.1)

-

-

At 28 December 2014

(25.8)

(606.7)

(4.4)

42.0

(594.9)

 

 

 

 

 



Consolidated balance sheet

at 28 December 2014 (29 December 2013)

 


 

notes

2014

£m

2013

£m

Non-current assets




Goodwill


12.0

12.0

Other intangible assets


668.9

671.1

Property, plant and equipment


317.7

337.6

Investment in associates


41.4

26.8

Retirement benefit assets

13

17.8

15.7

Deferred tax assets


62.1

57.0

Derivative financial instruments


3.2

1.9



1,123.1

1,122.1

Current assets




Inventories


7.0

8.9

Trade and other receivables


103.3

110.5

Cash and cash equivalents

12

49.0

15.5

 


159.3

134.9

Total assets


1,282.4

1,257.0

Non-current liabilities




Borrowings

12

(65.3)

(62.0)

Retirement benefit obligations

13

(319.0)

(267.9)

Deferred tax liabilities


(178.0)

(180.7)

Provisions

14

(6.9)

(13.8)



(569.2)

(524.4)

Current liabilities




Borrowings

12

-

(40.4)

Trade and other payables


(83.0)

(90.3)

Current tax liabilities


(12.0)

(16.7)

Provisions

14

(23.3)

(10.3)

Derivative financial instruments

12

-

(3.2)



(118.3)

(160.9)

Total liabilities


(687.5)

(685.3)

Net assets


594.9

571.7

 




Equity




Share capital

15

(25.8)

(25.8)

Share premium account

15

(606.7)

(1,121.6)

Capital redemption reserve

15

(4.4)

(4.3)

Retained earnings and other reserves

15

42.0

580.0

Total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent


(594.9)

(571.7)

 

 



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

1.         General information

The financial information in the Annual Results Announcement is derived from but does not represent the full statutory accounts of Trinity Mirror plc. The statutory accounts for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2013 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies and those for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 will be filed following the Annual General Meeting on 7 May 2015. The auditors' reports on the statutory accounts for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2013 and for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 were unqualified, do not include reference to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis of matter without qualifying the reports and do not contain a statement under Section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

Whilst the financial information included in this Annual Results Announcement has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRS. This Annual Results Announcement constitutes a dissemination announcement in accordance with Section 6.3 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR). The Annual Report for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 is available on the Company's website at www.trinitymirror.com and at the Company's registered office at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP and will be sent to shareholders who have elected to receive a hard copy by the end of March 2015.

The financial information has been prepared for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 and the comparative period has been prepared for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2013. Throughout this report, the financial information for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 is referred to and headed 2014 and for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2013 is referred to and headed 2013.

2.         Accounting polices

The financial information has been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union. These are subject to ongoing amendment by the International Accounting Standards Board and by the European Union and are therefore subject to change. As a result, the financial information contained herein will need to be updated for any subsequent amendment to IFRS or any new standards that are issued. The financial information has been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of freehold properties which on transition to IFRS were deemed to be the cost of the asset.

The accounting policies used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 have been consistently applied to all the periods presented except for the changes in accounting policy noted below and are set out in the Trinity Mirror plc 2014 Annual Report. These consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as set out in the Management Report in this Annual Results Announcement.

Changes in accounting policy

Except as noted below, the same accounting policies, presentation and methods of computation are followed in the consolidated financial statements as applied in the Group's latest annual consolidated financial statements.

The Group has adopted new, amended and revised standards and interpretations during the current financial period which have had no material impact on the Group:

·      IFRS 10 (Issued) 'Consolidated Financial Statements' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IFRS 11 (Issued) 'Joint Arrangements' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IFRS 12 (Issued) 'Disclosure of Interests in Other Entities' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IAS 27 (Revised) 'Separate Financial Statements' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IAS 28 (Revised) 'Investments in Associates' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IAS 32 (Amended) 'Financial Instruments' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IAS 36 (Amended) 'Impairment of Assets' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

·      IAS 39 (Amended) 'Financial Instruments' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014

At the date of approval of these consolidated financial statements the following new and amended standards, which have not been applied and when adopted will have no material impact on the Group, were in issue but not yet effective:

·      IAS 19 (Amended) 'Employee Benefits' - effective for periods beginning on or after 1 February 2015

·      IFRIC 21 (Issued) 'Levies' - effective for periods starting on or after 17 June 2014

·      Annual Improvements 2010-2012, effective for periods starting on or after 1 February 2015

·      Annual Improvements 2011-2013, effective for periods starting on or after 1 January 2015

At the date of approval of these consolidated financial statements, IFRS 9 (Issued) 'Financial Instruments' and IFRS 15 (Issued) 'Revenue from contracts with Customers', which have not been applied and when adopted will have no material impact on the Group, were not yet endorsed by the EU and have no effective date.

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

2.         Accounting polices (continued)

Key sources of estimation uncertainty

The key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year, are discussed below:

Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets

Determining whether goodwill and other intangible assets are impaired requires an estimation of the value in use of the cash-generating unit to which these have been allocated. The value in use calculation requires the Group to estimate the future cash flows expected to arise from the cash-generating unit and a suitable discount rate in order to calculate present value.

Retirement benefits

Actuarial assumptions adopted and external factors can significantly vary the surplus or deficit of defined benefit pension schemes. Advice is sourced from independent actuaries in selecting suitable assumptions.

Provisions

There is uncertainty as to liabilities arising from the outcome or resolution of the ongoing historical legal issues.

 

Critical judgements in applying the Group's accounting policies

No critical judgements in applying the Group's accounting policies have been identified in the current or preceding year.

3.         Operating segments

Operating segments are identified on the basis of internal reports about components of the Group that are regularly reviewed by the Board and chief operating decision maker to allocate resources to the segments and to assess their performance. The Group has four operating segments that are regularly reviewed by the Board and chief operating decision maker.

The operating segments are: Publishing which includes all of our newspapers and associated digital publishing; Printing which provides printing services to the publishing segment and to third parties; Specialist Digital which includes our acquired digital recruitment classified business and our digital marketing services businesses; and Central which includes revenue and costs not allocated to the operational divisions and our share of results of associates.

The accounting policies used in the preparation of each segment's revenue and results are the same as the Group's accounting policies described in note 2. The Board and chief operating decision maker are not provided with an amount for total assets by segment. The Group's operations are located primarily in the UK and the Group is not subject to significant seasonality during the year.

Segment revenue and results

52 weeks ended 28 December 2014

 

 

Publishing

2014

£m

 

 

Printing

2014

£m

 

Specialist Digital

2014

£m

 

 

Central

2014

£m

 

 

Total

2014

£m

Revenue






Segment sales

554.0

188.9

15.8

3.3

762.0

Inter-segment sales

-

(124.4)

(1.3)

-

(125.7)

Total revenue

554.0

64.5

14.5

3.3

636.3

Segment result

113.5

-

2.0

(10.0)

105.5

Amortisation of other intangible assets





(4.9)

Pension administrative expenses





(3.2)

Restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures





(14.0)

Non-recurring items





15.2

Operating profit





98.6

Investment revenues





0.3

Pension finance charge





(11.2)

Finance costs





(6.1)

Profit before tax





81.6

Tax charge





(11.8)

Profit for the period





69.8



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

3.         Operating segments (continued)

Segment revenue and results (continued)

Following a change in management structure, the Group has moved the revenue and results of fish4 from the Specialist Digital operating segment to the Publishing operating segment. The revision to the operating segments has had no impact on the revenue or operating profit of the Group. The 2013 comparatives have been restated as a result of this change.

The effect of the changes in reporting on the comparatives is shown below:

 






As reported

29 December

2013

£m

fish4

29 December

2013

£m

As restated

29 December 2013

£m

 









Publishing





576.4

2.0

578.4

 

Specialist Digital





18.7

(2.0)

16.7

 

Revenue





595.1

-

595.1

 









 

Publishing





118.5

-

118.5

 

Specialist Digital





0.4

-

0.4

 

Operating profit





118.9

-

118.9

 

 

 

52 weeks ended 29 December 2013 (restated)

 

 

Publishing

2013

£m

 

Printing

2013

£m

Specialist Digital

2013

£m

 

Central

2013

£m

 

Total

2013

£m

Revenue






Segment sales

578.4

198.4

18.0

3.0

797.8

Inter-segment sales

-

(132.7)

(1.3)

-

(134.0)

Total revenue

578.4

65.7

16.7

3.0

663.8

Segment result

118.5

-

0.4

(10.9)

108.0

Amortisation of other intangible assets





(5.2)

Pension administrative expenses





(2.8)

Restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures





(9.9)

Non-recurring items





(224.9)

Operating loss





(134.8)

Investment revenues





0.3

Pension finance charge





(13.2)

Finance costs





(13.1)

Loss before tax





(160.8)

Tax credit





64.4

Loss for the period





(96.4)

4.         Revenue

 

 

 

2014

£m

2013

£m

 



Circulation

279.8

285.8

Advertising

242.5

262.7

Printing

64.5

65.7

Other

49.5

49.6

Total revenue

636.3

663.8

 
The Group's operations are located primarily in the UK. The Group's revenue by location of customers is set out below:

 

 

 

2014

£m

2013

£m

 



UK and Republic of Ireland

632.7

659.9

Continental Europe

3.5

3.7

Rest of World

0.1

0.2

Total revenue

636.3

663.8



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

5.         Non-recurring items

 

 

2014

£m

2013

£m




Provision for historical legal issues (a)

(12.0)

-

Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets (b)

-

(225.0)

Profit on disposal of subsidiary undertaking (c)

-

0.6

Non-recurring items included in administrative expenses

(12.0)

(224.4)

Non-recurring items included in share of results of associates (d)

27.2

(0.5)

Total non-recurring items

15.2

(224.9)

 

a)      The Group is aware of a number of civil claims from individuals in relation to phone hacking. In the period we have provided £12.0 million to cover the cost of dealing with and resolving claims. It remains uncertain as to how these matters will progress, whether further allegations or claims will be made, and their financial impact. Due to this uncertainty a contingent liability has been highlighted in note 17.

b)      At the 2013 reporting date, an impairment review comparing the carrying value of the Group's assets with value in use was undertaken in accordance with IAS 36. The review indicated that a £225.0 million impairment charge against goodwill and publishing rights and titles in respect of the Nationals and certain regional (Scotland, North East and Cardiff) cash-generating units was required.

c)      During the second half of 2013, the Group disposed of Trinity Mirror Digital Property Limited realising a profit on disposal of £0.6 million.

d)      Share of the after tax non-recurring items comprising our £27.5 million share of the gain on the disposal by PA Group of its weather forecasting business, MeteoGroup, our £0.4 million share of the profit of MeteoGroup recorded by PA Group up to the date of completion less our £0.7 million share of restructuring costs incurred by PA Group and Local World.

6.         Investment revenues

 

 

2014

£m

2013

£m




Interest income on bank deposits and other interest receipts

0.3

0.3

 

7.         Finance costs

 

 


2014

£m

2013

£m





Interest on bank overdrafts and borrowings


(3.5)

(7.0)

Total interest expense


(3.5)

(7.0)

Fair value loss on derivative financial instruments


(0.3)

(8.8)

Foreign exchange (loss)/gain on retranslation of borrowings


(2.3)

2.7

Finance costs


(6.1)

(13.1)

8.         Tax

 

 


2014

£m

2013

£m

Current tax




UK corporation tax charge for the period


(14.0)

(19.1)

Prior period adjustment


0.2

1.0

Current tax charge


(13.8)

(18.1)

Deferred tax




Deferred tax credit for the period


2.1

48.3

Prior period adjustment


(0.1)

(0.1)

Deferred tax rate change


-

34.3

Deferred tax credit


2.0

82.5

Tax (charge)/credit


(11.8)

64.4







%

%

Reconciliation of tax (charge)/credit




Standard rate of corporation tax


(21.5)

23.3

Tax effect of items that are not deductible in determining taxable profit/(loss)


(1.1)

(1.0)

Prior period adjustment


0.1

0.6

Deferred tax rate change


-

16.6

Tax effect of share of results of associates


8.0

0.5

Tax (charge)/credit rate


(14.5)

40.0



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

8.         Tax (continued)

The standard rate of UK corporation tax reduced from 23% to 21% on 1 April 2014. The blended rate for the accounting year is 21.5% being a mix of 23% up to 31 March 2014 and 21% from 1 April 2014 (2013: 23.25% being a mix of 24% up to 31 March 2013 and 23% from 1 April 2013). The current tax liabilities amounted to £12.0 million (2013: £16.7 million) at the reporting date.

The opening deferred tax position is recalculated in the period in which a change in the standard rate of corporation tax has been enacted or substantively enacted by parliament. The change in rate from 23% to 20% was accounted for in the prior year resulting in a £34.3 million credit in the consolidated income statement and a £8.9 million charge in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

The tax on actuarial (losses)/gains on defined benefit pension schemes taken to the consolidated statement of comprehensive income is a credit of £10.6 million comprising a deferred tax credit of £9.8 million and a current tax credit of £0.8 million (2013: a charge of £8.5 million comprising a deferred tax charge of £9.2 million and a current tax credit of £0.7 million).

The tax on share-based payments taken to equity is a charge of £3.3 million comprising a deferred tax charge of £3.7 million and a current tax credit of £0.4 million (2013: deferred tax credit of £5.9 million).

9.         Dividends

 


2014

pence

2013

pence





Dividend proposed


3.0

-

Dividend paid


-

-

No dividends were declared for 2013. In 2014, no interim dividend was declared but it is proposed that a final dividend of 3 pence per ordinary share is paid for 2014 on 4 June 2015 to shareholders on the register on 8 May 2015. The proposed dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting on 7 May 2015. If approved, it is estimated that the total cost of the dividend will be some £7.7 million.

10.        Earnings per share

 


2014

£m

2013

£m





Profit after tax before adjusted* items


81.3

79.1

Adjusted* items:




   Non-recurring items (after tax)


17.6

(180.6)

   Amortisation of other intangibles (after tax)


(4.5)

(4.8)

   Finance costs (after tax)


(2.1)

(4.9)

   Restructuring charges (after tax)


(11.0)

(7.6)

   Pension charges (after tax)


(11.5)

(12.8)

   Tax legislation changes


-

35.2

Profit/(loss) for the period


69.8

(96.4)

 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares


2014

Thousand

2013

Thousand





Weighted average number of ordinary shares for basic earnings per share


248,108

247,328

Effect of potential dilutive ordinary shares in respect of share options


6,574

10,063

Weighted average number of ordinary shares for diluted earnings per share


254,682

257,391

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares during the period. Diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue on the assumption of conversion of all potentially dilutive ordinary shares. The weighted average number of potentially dilutive ordinary shares not currently dilutive was 4,679,307 (2013: 5,215,571).

 

Statutory earnings/(loss) per share


 

2014

Pence

 

2013

Pence





Earnings/(loss) per share - basic


28.1

(39.0)

Earnings/(loss)/ per share - diluted


27.4

(39.0)

 

In the prior year potentially dilutive ordinary shares in respect of share options have not been included in the statutory diluted loss per share calculation as they are antidilutive in this instance.

 

Adjusted* earnings per share


2014

Pence

2013

Pence





Earnings per share - basic


32.8

32.0

Earnings per share - diluted


32.0

30.7

 



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

10.        Earnings per share (continued)

The basic earnings per share impact for each non-recurring item disclosed in note 5 are as follows:

 


2014

Pence

2013

Pence

 




Provision for historical legal issues


(4.1)

-

Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets


-

(73.1)

Profit on disposal of subsidiary undertaking


-

0.3

Loss per share - non-recurring items included in administrative expenses


(4.1)

(72.8)

Profit/(loss) per share - non-recurring items included in share of results of associates


11.0

(0.2)

Profit/(loss) per share - total non-recurring items


6.9

(73.0)

 

*Adjusted items relate to the exclusion of non-recurring items (share of non-recurring credit from associate undertakings of £27.2 million and provision for historical legal issues of £12.0 million), restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures, the amortisation of intangible assets, the retranslation of foreign currency borrowings, the impact of fair value changes on derivative financial instruments, the pension finance charge, the pension administrative expenses and the impact of tax legislation changes. Set out in note 16 is the reconciliation between the statutory results and the adjusted results.

 

11.        Notes to the consolidated cash flow statement



2014

£m

2013

£m





Operating profit/(loss)


98.6

(134.8)

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment


24.5

26.4

Impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets


-

225.0

Amortisation of other intangible assets


2.2

2.2

Share of results of associates


(30.6)

(3.3)

(Credit)/charge for share-based payments


(0.4)

2.3

Profit on disposal of subsidiary undertaking


-

(0.6)

Profit on disposal of fixed assets


-

(0.2)

Write-off of fixed assets


0.9

1.2

Pension administrative expenses


3.2

2.8

Pension deficit funding payments


(18.2)

(19.0)

Operating cash flows before movements in working capital


80.2

102.0

Decrease/(increase) in inventories


1.9

(1.9)

Decrease/(increase) in receivables


6.4

(4.4)

Increase/(decrease) in payables


1.6

(2.8)

Cash flows from operating activities


90.1

92.9

12.        Net debt

The statutory net debt for the Group is as follows:


 

29 December 2013

£m

 

 

Cash flow

£m

Derivative financial instruments*

£m

 

Foreign exchange*

£m

 

 

Loans repaid

£m

 

28 December

2014

£m

Non-current liabilities







Loan notes

(62.0)

-

-

(3.3)

-

(65.3)


(62.0)

-

-

(3.3)

-

(65.3)

Current liabilities







Loan notes

(40.4)

-

-

1.0

39.4

-

Derivative financial instruments

(3.2)

-

(1.6)

-

4.8

-


(43.6)

-

(1.6)

1.0

44.2

-

Non-current assets







Derivative financial instruments

1.9

-

1.3

-

-

3.2


1.9

-

1.3

-

-

3.2

Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents

15.5

77.7

-

-

(44.2)

49.0


15.5

77.7

-

-

(44.2)

49.0

Net debt

(88.2)

77.7

(0.3)

(2.3)

-

(13.1)

* The impact on the loan notes of translation into Sterling at the settlement date or at the reporting date exchange rate and the impact on the derivative financial instruments of being stated at fair value at the settlement date or at the reporting date are included in the consolidated income statement within finance costs as set out in note 7.



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

12.       Net debt (continued)

The Group has cross-currency interest rate swaps to manage its exposure to foreign exchange movements and interest rate movements on the private placement loan notes. Fair value is calculated using discounted cash flows based upon forward rates available to the Group. The cross-currency interest rate swaps are classed in level two of the financial instruments hierarchy. Level two fair value measurements are those derived from inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly.

The contracted net debt for the Group, assuming that the private placement loan notes and the cross-currency interest rate swaps are not terminated prior to maturity, is as follows:

 

 

 

29 December

2013

£m

 

 

Cash flow

£m

 

 

Loans repaid

£m

 

28 December

2014

£m

Non-current liabilities





Loan notes

(68.3)

-

-

(68.3)


(68.3)

-

-

(68.3)

Current liabilities





Loan notes

(44.2)

-

44.2

-


(44.2)

-

44.2

-

Current assets





Cash and cash equivalents

15.5

77.7

(44.2)

49.0


15.5

77.7

(44.2)

49.0

Net debt

(97.0)

77.7

-

The statutory net debt reconciles to the contracted net debt as follows:


2014

£m

2013

£m




Statutory net debt

(13.1)

(88.2)

Loan notes at period end exchange rate

65.3

102.4

Loan notes at swapped exchange rate

(68.3)

(112.5)

Cross-currency interest rate swaps

(3.2)

1.3

Contracted net debt

(19.3)

(97.0)

13.        Retirement benefit schemes

Defined contribution pension schemes

The Group operates the Trinity Mirror Pension Plan (the 'TMPP Scheme'), which is a defined contribution pension scheme for qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Group in funds under the control of Trustees.

The Group implemented the Auto Enrolment legislation from 1 July 2013. The TMPP Scheme has three sections, one for members who elected to join prior to 1 May 2013 which is now closed to new members, one for members who elect to join from 1 May 2013 and one for members from 1 July 2013 who are auto enrolled.

The current service cost charged to the consolidated income statement of £13.9 million (2013: £14.8 million) represents contributions payable to the scheme by the Group at rates specified in the scheme rules. Contributions that were due have been paid over to the scheme at all reporting dates.

Defined benefit pension schemes

Background

The Group's defined benefit pension schemes were closed to new entrants from 1 January 2003 and closed to future accrual from 31 March 2010.

The principal schemes which together represent the majority of the aggregate value of the assets and liabilities are the Mirror Group Pension Scheme (the 'Old Scheme'), the MGN Past Service Pension Scheme (the 'Past Service Scheme'), the MGN Pension Scheme (the 'MGN Scheme'), the Trinity Retirement Benefit Scheme (the 'Trinity Scheme') and the Midland Independent Newspapers Pension Scheme (the 'MIN Scheme').

The Old Scheme and the Past Service Scheme cover the liabilities for service up to 13 February 1992 for employees and former employees who worked regularly on the production and distribution of Mirror Group's newspapers. The Old Scheme was closed on 13 February 1992 and the Past Service Scheme was established to meet any liabilities which are not satisfied by payments from the Old Scheme and the Maxwell Communications Pension Plan. No contributions have been paid to the Old Scheme since 1992. The disclosures contained in this note in respect of these two schemes are combined (the 'Old Scheme/Past Service Scheme').

The remaining defined benefit pension schemes have all secured their members benefits by way of a buy-in or buy-out with insurance companies. It is expected that these schemes will be wound up during 2015 without further contributions from the Group. On completion of the winding up of these schemes, any surplus assets will be transferred to one of the principal schemes.



 

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

13.        Retirement benefit schemes (continued)

Defined benefit pension schemes (continued)

Characteristics

The defined benefit pension schemes provide pensions to members which are based on the final salary pension payable normally from age 65 plus surviving spouses or dependents benefits following a member's death. Benefits increase both before and after retirement either in line with statutory requirements or in accordance with the scheme rules. Such increases are either at fixed rates or in line with retail or consumer prices but subject to upper and lower limits. All of the schemes are independent of the Group with assets held independently of the Group. They are governed by Trustees who administer benefits in accordance with the scheme rules and appropriate UK legislation. The principal schemes each have a professional independent trustee as their chairman with half of the remaining Trustees nominated by the members and half by the Group.

Maturity profile and cash flow

Across the principal schemes, the invested assets at the reporting date are expected to be sufficient to pay the uninsured benefits due up to 2044, based on the reporting date assumptions. The remaining uninsured benefit payments, payable from 2045, are due to be funded by a combination of asset outperformance and the deficit contributions currently scheduled to be paid by 2025. The liabilities relate 50% to current pensioners and their spouses or dependants and 50% relate to deferred pensioners. The average term from the reporting date to payment of the remaining benefits was around 16 years. Uninsured benefit payments in 2014 were £46 million, projected to rise to an annual peak in 2039 of £83 million and reducing thereafter.

Funding arrangements

The funding of the Group's principal schemes is subject to UK pension legislation as well as the guidance and codes of practice issued by the Pensions Regulator. Funding targets are agreed between the Trustees and the Group and are reviewed and revised usually every three years. The funding targets must include a margin for prudence above the expected cost of paying the benefits and so are different to the liability value for IAS 19 purposes. The funding deficits revealed by these triennial valuations are removed over time in accordance with an agreed recovery plan and schedule of contributions for each scheme.

The valuations of the principal schemes as at 31 December 2013 were completed on 9 December 2014. The valuations showed deficits of £216.0 million for the Old Scheme/Past Service Scheme, £120.7 million for the MGN Scheme, £31.9 million for the Trinity Scheme and £26.7 million for the MIN Scheme. The next valuation date of the principal schemes is due as at 31 December 2016.

Deficit funding contributions have been agreed totalling £36.2 million for 2015, 2016 and 2017. Contributions remain at around £36 million from 2018 to 2023 and then reduce to around £21 million for 2024 and 2025 after which contributions are due to cease. The combined deficit is expected to be eradicated by 2027 by a combination of the contributions and asset returns over assumed investment returns.

In addition, the Group has agreed that in respect of dividend payments in 2015, 2016 and 2017 that additional contributions would be paid at 50% of the excess if dividends in 2015 were above 5 pence per share. For 2016 and 2017 the threshold increases in line with the increase in dividends capped at 10%.

During 2014, contributions paid to the defined benefit pension schemes were £18.2 million. In December 2014, the Group pre paid deficit funding contributions of £16.5 million in respect of 2015 and £0.5 million in respect of 2016 and other contributions of £1.2 million. Payments were £9.2 million (2013: £11.6 million) to the Past Service Scheme, £3.7 million (2013: £4.0 million) to the MGN Scheme, £2.7 million (2013: £1.0 million) to the Trinity Scheme, £2.6 million (2013: £1.6 million) to the MIN Scheme and £nil (2013: £0.8 million) to the smaller schemes. During 2013, contributions paid to the defined benefit pension schemes amounted to £19.0 million being £9.9 million in respect of the agreed 2013 payments and an accelerated payment of £9.1 million in respect of the agreed 2014 payments.

Risks

Valuations for funding and accounting purposes are based on assumptions about future economic and demographic variables. This results in risk of a volatile valuation deficit, and the risk that the ultimate cost of paying benefits is higher than the current assessed liability value.

The main sources of risk are:

·          Investment risk: a reduction in asset returns (or assumed future asset returns);

·          Inflation risk: an increase in benefit increases (or assumed future increases); and

·          Longevity risk: an increase in average life spans (or assumed life expectancy).

 

These risks are managed by:

·          Investing in insured annuity policies: the income from these policies exactly matches the benefit payments for the members covered, removing all of the above risks. At the reporting date the insured annuity policies covered 20% of total liabilities;

·          Investing a proportion of assets in government and corporate bonds: changes in the values of the bonds broadly match changes in the values of the uninsured liabilities, reducing the investment risk. At the reporting date this amounted to 32% of assets excluding the insured annuity policies;

·          Investing a proportion in equities: with the aim of achieving outperformance and so reducing the deficits over the long term. At the reporting date this amounted to 55% of assets excluding the insured annuity policies; and

·          The gradual sale of equities over time to purchase additional annuity policies or bonds: to further reduce risk as the schemes, which are closed to future accrual, mature.

 

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

13.        Retirement benefit schemes (continued)

Defined benefit pension schemes (continued)

The Group is not exposed to any unusual, entity specific or scheme specific risks. There were no plan amendments, settlements or curtailments in 2013 which resulted in a pension cost.

Actuarial projections at the reporting date showed removal of the accounting deficit by 2023 due to scheduled contributions and asset outperformance over assumed investment returns.

Results

For the purposes of the Group's consolidated financial statements, valuations have been performed in accordance with the requirements of IAS 19 with scheme liabilities calculated using a consistent projected unit valuation method and compared to the value of the scheme assets at 31 December 2014, the day closest to the reporting date for which such values were available.

The assets and liabilities of the principal schemes as at the reporting date are:

 

 

Old Scheme/Past

Service Scheme

£m

 

MGN Scheme

£m

 

Trinity Scheme

£m

 

MIN Scheme

£m






Present value of uninsured scheme liabilities

(606.7)

(487.8)

(304.0)

(93.9)

Present value of insured scheme liabilities

(186.4)

-

(79.3)

(105.1)

Total present value of scheme liabilities

(793.1)

(487.8)

(383.3)

(199.0)

Invested and cash assets at fair value

405.3

397.2

320.1

66.9

Value of liability matching insurance contracts

186.4

-

79.3

105.1

Total value of scheme assets

591.7

397.2

399.4

172.0

Net scheme (deficit)/surplus

(201.4)

(90.6)

16.1

(27.0)

 

Based on actuarial advice, the assumptions used in calculating the scheme liabilities and the actuarial value of those liabilities are:

 


2014

2013

Financial assumptions (nominal % pa)




Discount rate


3.70

4.40

Retail price inflation rate


3.05

3.35

Consumer price inflation rate


1.85

2.35

Rate of pension increase in deferment


1.85

2.35

Rate of pension increases in payment


3.85

3.95

Mortality assumptions - future life expectancies from age 65 (years)




Male currently aged 65


22.0

22.3

Female currently aged 65


23.9

24.4

Male currently aged 55


22.8

23.1

Female currently aged 55


24.8

25.4

 

The estimated impact on the IAS 19 liabilities and on the IAS 19 deficit at the reporting date, due to a reasonably possible change in key assumptions over the next year, are set out in the table below:


Effect on

liabilities
£m

Effect on

deficit
£m

Discount rate+/- 0.5% pa

-135/+148

-121/+133

Retail price inflation rate +/- 0.5% pa

+25/-25

+18/-18

Consumer price inflation rate +/- 0.5% pa

+43/-41

+43/-41

Life expectancy at age 65 +/- 1 year

+71/-69

+64/-62

The effect on the deficit is lower than the effect on the liabilities due to the matching impact on the value of the insurance contracts held in respect of some of the liabilities. Each assumption variation represents a reasonably possible change in the assumption over the next year but might not represent the actual effect because assumption changes are unlikely to happen in isolation.

The estimated impact of the assumption variations make no allowance for changes in the values of invested assets that would arise if market conditions were to change in order to give rise to the assumption variation. If allowance were made, the estimated impact would likely be lower as the values of invested assets would normally change.

The amount included in the consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income and consolidated balance sheet arising from the Group's obligations in respect of its defined benefit pension schemes is as follows:

 

Consolidated income statement

 


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Pension scheme administrative expenses


(3.2)

(2.8)

Pension scheme finance charge


(11.2)

(13.2)

Defined benefit cost recognised in income statement


(14.4)

(16.0)



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

13.        Retirement benefit schemes (continued)

Defined benefit pension schemes (continued)

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Actuarial loss due to liability experience


(7.9)

(11.8)

Actuarial loss due to liability assumption changes


(90.6)

(15.4)

Total liability actuarial loss


(98.5)

(27.2)

Returns on scheme assets greater than discount rate


45.7

69.7

Total (loss)/gain recognised in statement of comprehensive income


(52.8)

42.5

 

Consolidated balance sheet


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Present value of uninsured scheme liabilities


(1,492.4)

(1,392.0)

Present value of insured scheme liabilities


(370.8)

(424.1)

Total present value of scheme liabilities


(1,863.2)

(1,816.1)

Invested and cash assets at fair value


1,191.2

1,139.8

Value of liability matching insurance contracts


370.8

424.1

Total value of scheme assets


1,562.0

1,563.9

Net scheme deficit


(301.2)

(252.2)





Non-current assets - retirement benefit assets


17.8

15.7

Non-current liabilities - retirement benefit obligations


(319.0)

(267.9)

Net scheme deficit


(301.2)

(252.2)





Net scheme deficit included in consolidated balance sheet


(301.2)

(252.2)

Deferred tax included in consolidated balance sheet


60.2

50.4

Net scheme deficit after deferred tax


(241.0)

(201.8)

 

Movement in net scheme deficit

 


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Opening net scheme deficit


(252.2)

(297.7)

Contributions


18.2

19.0

Consolidated income statement


(14.4)

(16.0)

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income


(52.8)

42.5

Closing net scheme deficit


(301.2)

(252.2)

 

Changes in the present value of  scheme liabilities


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Opening present value of scheme liabilities


(1,816.1)

(1,803.6)

Interest cost


(76.5)

(79.4)

Actuarial loss - experience


(7.9)

(11.8)

Actuarial gain - change to demographic assumptions


41.6

59.0

Actuarial loss - change to financial assumptions


(132.2)

(74.4)

Benefits paid


79.7

82.7

Buy-out


48.2

11.4

Closing present value of scheme liabilities


(1,863.2)

(1,816.1)

 

Changes in the fair value of  scheme assets

 

 


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Opening fair value of scheme assets


1,563.9

1,505.9

Interest income


65.3

66.2

Actual return on assets greater than discount rate


45.7

69.7

Contributions by employer


18.2

19.0

Benefits paid


(79.7)

(82.7)

Administrative expenses


(3.2)

(2.8)

Buy-out


(48.2)

(11.4)

Closing fair value of scheme assets


1,562.0

1,563.9



Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

13.        Retirement benefit schemes (continued)

Defined benefit pension schemes (continued)

Fair value of scheme assets


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





UK equities


219.6

223.7

US equities


189.3

159.0

Other overseas equities


251.2

230.3

Property


26.8

28.2

Corporate bonds


248.7

264.7

Fixed interest gilts


56.3

63.9

Index linked gilts


79.0

67.4

Cash and other


120.3

102.6

Invested and cash assets at fair value


1,191.2

1,139.8

Value of liability matching insurance contracts


370.8

424.1

Fair value of scheme assets


1,562.0

1,563.9

All of the scheme assets have quoted prices in active markets. Scheme assets include neither direct investments in the Company's ordinary shares nor any property assets occupied nor other assets used by the Group.

14.        Provisions


Share-based Payments

£m

 

Property

£m

 

Restructuring

£m

 

Other

£m

 

Total

£m

At 29 December 2013

(3.7)

(11.0)

(3.4)

(6.0)

(24.1)

Released/(charged) to income statement

1.5

(1.1)

(14.0)

(12.7)

(26.3)

Utilisation of provision

0.8

3.1

13.8

2.5

20.2

At 28 December 2014

(1.4)

(9.0)

(3.6)

(16.2)

(30.2)

The provisions have been analysed between current and non-current as follows:

 

 


 

2014

£m

 

2013

£m





Current


(23.3)

(10.3)

Non-current


(6.9)

(13.8)

 


(30.2)

(24.1)

The share-based payments provision relates to National Insurance obligations attached to the future crystallisation of awards.

The property provision relates to onerous property leases and future committed costs related to occupied, let and vacant properties. This provision will be utilised over the remaining term of the leases.

The restructuring provision relates to restructuring charges incurred in the delivery of cost reduction measures. This provision is expected to be utilised within the next year.

The other provision relates to legal and other costs relating to historical litigation and other matters.

15.        Share capital and reserves

The share capital comprises 257,690,520 allotted, called-up and fully paid ordinary shares of 10p each. The share premium account reflects the premium on issued ordinary shares. The Group obtained court approval at the end of April 2014 for a reduction in the share premium account of £514.8 million to eliminate the deficit on the Company's profit and loss account reserve. Profit generated by the Company after 30 April 2014 is available for distribution to shareholders.

The capital redemption reserve represents the nominal value of the shares purchased and subsequently cancelled under share buy-back programmes. Cumulative goodwill written off to retained earnings and other reserves in respect of continuing businesses acquired prior to 1998 is £25.9 million (2013: £25.9 million). On transition to IFRS, the revalued amounts of freehold properties were deemed to be the cost of the asset and the revaluation reserve has been transferred to retained earnings and other reserves.

Shares purchased by the Trinity Mirror Employee Benefit Trust (the 'Trust') are included in retained earnings and other reserves at £11.4 million (2013: £13.4 million). During the period the Trust purchased 1,391,620 shares (2013: 2,600,000) for a cash consideration of £2.2 million (2013: £3.0 million). The Trust received a payment of £2.2 million (2013: £3.0 million) from the Company to purchase these shares. During the period, 3,408,484 shares were released to senior managers relating to grants made in prior years (2013: 1,652,091).

During the period 935,709 awards were granted to senior managers on a discretionary basis under the Long Term Incentive Plan (2013: 2,458,487). The exercise price of the granted awards is £1 for each block of awards granted. The awards vest after three years, subject to the continued employment of the participant and satisfaction of certain performance conditions and are required to be held for a further two years. During the period 96,245 awards were granted to senior managers under the Restricted Share Plan (2013: nil). The awards vest after three years, subject to the continued employment of the participant.

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

for the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2014 (and 52 weeks ended 29 December 2013)

16.        Reconciliation of statutory results to adjusted results

52 weeks ended 28 December 2014

 

 

 

 

 

Statutory

results

£m

Non-recurring items

(a)

£m

 

 

Amortisation

(b)

£m

 

Pension

charges

(c)

£m

 

Restructuringcharges

(d)

 £m

 

Finance costs

(e)

£m

 

Tax

items

(f)

£m

 

 

Adjusted

results

£m

Revenue

636.3

-

-

-

-

-

-

636.3

Operating profit

98.6

(15.2)

4.9

3.2

14.0

-

-

105.5

Profit before tax

81.6

(15.2)

4.9

14.4

14.0

2.6

-

102.3

Profit after tax

69.8

(17.6)

4.5

11.5

11.0

2.1

-

81.3

Basic EPS (p)

28.1

(6.9)

1.8

4.6

4.4

0.8

-

32.8

 

52 weeks ended 29 December 2013


 

 

Statutory

results

£m

Non-recurring items

(a)

£m

 

 

Amortisation

(b)

£m

 

Pension

charges

(c)

£m

 

Restructuring charges

(d)

 £m

 

Finance costs

(e)

£m

 

Tax

items

(f)

£m

 

 

Adjusted

results

£m

Revenue

663.8

-

-

-

-

-

-

663.8

Operating (loss)/profit

(134.8)

224.9

5.2

2.8

9.9

-

-

108.0

(Loss)/profit before tax

(160.8)

224.9

5.2

16.0

9.9

6.1

-

101.3

(Loss)/profit after tax

(96.4)

180.6

4.8

12.8

7.6

4.9

(35.2)

79.1

Basic (LPS)/EPS (p)

(39.0)

73.0

1.9

5.2

3.1

2.0

(14.2)

32.0

(a)       Non-recurring items relate to the items charged or credited to operating profit as set out in note 5.

(b)       Amortisation of the Group's other intangible assets and amortisation included in share of results of associates.

(c)       Pension finance charge and pension administrative expenses relating to the defined benefit pension schemes as set out in note 13.

(d)       Restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures as set out in note 14.

(e)       Impact of the translation of foreign currency borrowings and fair value changes on derivative financial instruments as set out in note 7.

(f)        Tax items relate to the impact of tax legislation changes due to the change in the corporation tax rate on the opening deferred tax position and prior year tax adjustments included in the taxation charge or credit as set out in note 8.

17.        Contingent liabilities

There is potential for further liabilities to arise from the outcome or resolution of the ongoing historical legal issues. Due to the present uncertainty in respect of the nature, timing or measurement of any such liabilities it is too soon to be able to reliably estimate how these matters will proceed and their financial impact.

 

 


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