Economist seeks revenue growth

The head of the Economist Group has promised a return to revenue growth in the next 12 months after falling print advertising caused a third successive year of declining sales, reports Henry Mance of The Financial Times.

Mance reports, “Chris Stibbs said the company — which owns the Economist magazine and other information businesses — had lost about £50m, or 46 per cent of the total, in print advertising since reporting record results in 2012.

“It is now aiming to grow in other areas, such as producing more content for brands and offering other marketing services.

“‘We will grow this year, and we will keep growing,’ said Mr Stibbs. ‘It will be marketing services that will eventually replace the advertising.’

“Sales at the Economist Group — which is half-owned by the Financial Times — fell 1 per cent to £328m in the 12 months ending in March. Pre-tax profit rose £2m to £59m.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.