Fusion Corporate Partners

Guardian News & Media, the publisher of the Guardian and the Observer, has asked journalists to consider taking voluntary redundancy after reporting an operating loss of £44.2 million for 2011. The newspapers are looking to save £7 million from the editorial budget this year as part of a five-year plan to save £25 million and to focus more on online publishing by 2016/17.

• Operating loss grew 42 percent from £33.1 million to £44.2 million ($69 million)
• Digital revenue growth of 16.3 percent to £45.7 million (making up for lost print revenue)
• Overall company revenue stayed broadly unchanged from last year at £196.2 million
• U.S. audience grew 80 percent to 20 million unique monthly readers
• Total audience grew 38% to 67.8 million unique monthly readers

Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger said: “Having the foresight to start exploring digital platforms as early as 1999 has given us a great foundation on which to build a secure future for the Guardian. This has been an extraordinary year for our journalism, all the more so for having the largest ever audience for our work.”

UK, London

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Trinity Mirror PLC has secured new bank facilities to August 2015 ahead of the expiry of the Group’s bank facility in June 2013. The committed bank facilities are as follows:-

• a new £110 million bank facility expiring in August 2015. The new facility is available from June 2013 or earlier if the current facility is cancelled. The new facility reduces to £102 million in March 2014 and to £94 million in March 2015.
• the current £178.5 million bank facility expiring in June 2013 remains undrawn and has been reduced to £135 million with immediate effect.
• financial covenants attached to the new  facility are a minimum interest cover of 4 times increasing in steps to 5 times from July 2013 and a maximum net debt to EBTIDA ratio of 2.75 times falling in steps to 2.25 times in January 2015. In addition, there is a cash flow covenant requiring a minimum cash flow, before interest, acquisitions and dividends of £40 million.

As part of the refinancing process, the Group reached agreement with the Trustees of the Group’s Pension Schemes to reduce deficit funding payments for 2012, 2013 and 2014 to £10 million per annum, before reverting to normalised funding payments of some £33 million per annum from 2015.

UK, London

Related articles:

• Guardian News & Media sell paidContent to GigaOM Posted on February 8, 2012
• Trinity Mirror takes full control of Fish4 Posted on October 14, 2010
• Trinity Mirror plc to acquire GMG Regional Media Posted on February 9, 2010

The new bank facility and reduced pension contributions ensure that the Group has sufficient financial flexibility for the foreseeable future.  The cash flow of the Group coupled with the flexibility of the new bank facility ensures the Group can repay £168 million of maturing US$ private placement loan notes which are due as follows:

·          June 2012:         £69.7 million

·          October 2013:    £54.5 million

·          June 2014:         £44.2 million

As part of the agreement with the Trustees of the Group’s Pension Schemes, additional discretionary payments can be made by the Group during 2012 to 2014 with mandatory additional contributions required over this period in the event:

·          EBITDA were to be greater than £145 million for 2012 and 2013 and EBITDA were to be greater than £130 million in 2014. In this instance contribution equal to 50% of the excess would be required to the Pension Schemes;and

·          Dividends were declared and paid by the Group. In this instance contributions equal to the dividend payment would be required to be paid the Pension Schemes.

The new bank facility was co-ordinated by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and Lloyds TSB Bank plc.