Financial Times faces “daunting conditions”

The Financial Times is braced for “daunting trading conditions,” its managing editor has warned, reports Alex Spence of Politico.

Spence writes, “‘We are facing some daunting trading conditions in 2016,’ the managing editor James Lamont warned FT staff this week in an internal memo seen by POLITICO.

“Despite its high-value readership, the financial newspaper has not been immune to the painful trends afflicting its general-interest rivals: Print advertising has had another bad start to the year, while the digital news business is also proving to be precarious.

“The FT’s commercial team is ‘braced for tough times in the months ahead,’ Lamont said.

“The memo indicated four areas where costs will be cut back: There’ll be a delay in filling job vacancies. Travel and entertainment expenses will be slashed. Casual staff will only be brought in when ‘strictly necessary.’ And there’ll be more pressure to streamline production of the print edition.”

Read more here.