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Investors are unfair to us, says O’Reilly
Bill Condie27 Jan 2009
Independent News & Media, the publisher led by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, says it has been treated unfairly by investors who have driven down the share price in recent weeks.
The stock is now worth around 19p after trading at above 200p just a year ago.
The Dublin-based group, which publishes the Independent newspapers in Britain and Ireland, called the declines “significant and unwarranted”.
It blamed the weak price on a misunderstanding of its business, pointing to “the international diversity of the group's publishing, online, radio and outdoor operations across Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom”.
INM expects to release its 2008 full-year results by the end of March.
It acknowledged the “very challenging economic and advertising conditions” but said that the diversity of its operations gave it “considerable resilience”.
Total group revenue is estimated to be about
€1.4 billion (£1.32 billion), down 3% from 2007.
