INM report losses: - Update O'Reilly steps down (ousted)

[jmcc]

Wonder how Eoghan Harris is going to worm his way out of this one. One can almost imagine him uttering le mot de Cambronne as the O'Reilly Imperial Guards (and assorted bootlickers) are asked to consider their positions.

Regards...jmcc

[Sam Lord]

As expected Leslie Buckley is back on the IN&M board. Denis now firmly in the driving seat.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0827/inm...-business.html

Osborne was sacked as Chairperson because, according to himself, he would not interfere in editorial policy to suit O'Brien. The approach to him to do so was made directly by O'Brien.

Now it looks like O'Brien's man Buckley will be the next Chair.

But according to the Broadcasting Authority O'Brien does not control INM.

http://www.thejournal.ie/broadcastin...34844-Jul2012/

What a farce.

[Sam Lord]

Buckley will have to pull some rabbit out of the hat to save O'Brien's bacon on this one.

INM shares are currently trading at .19 giving a market capitalisation of just over 100 million euros. O'Brien has invested over 500 million to acquire his 29.9% stake.

Latest ABC circulation figures show a continuing fall in circulation of all the titles. The Irish Independent, for example, is 7.4% down on the same period last year.

http://www.mecglobal.ie/news-desk/me...ly-newspapers/

I guess when you don't have the inside track and a politician eager to please it is harder to be a success in business.

[disability student]

Tax exile O' Brien is all concerned about his image and sounded like a control fr***k. The more he controls the media in order to dampen down any publication illustrating him in a very bad light. So far as i know, he sued some 20 journalists to date.

[PaddyJoe]

IN&M results are not good. How long before Crowley gets out the axe?

ndependent News and Media has reported a 22% decline in first half earnings to €39.1m, after growth in its Irish market was hit by poor market condition and revenues continued to decline. The group said that its overall revenue dropped by 2.6% to €272.2m, though its digital division, which introduced the company’s new GrabOne daily deals offering, saw a 15.2% spike.

“The island of Ireland continues to be adversely affected by both weak domestic market conditions and the ongoing eurozone financial crisis,” the company said in a statement.

INM said that it was forced to cut costs over the period, introducing a voluntary redundancy scheme to Sunday World workers and closing offices in Dublin on London. Overall, it cut 1.3% from its operating costs, which came in at €246.8m for the six months.

The company also said that it had trouble generating advertising revenue over the period, with its take 10% lower in Ireland than it was at the same time last year.

On the international front, the group’s South African business continued to stall. “South Africa was impacted by fragile
consumer and business confidence,” INM explained.

http://www.investoronline.ie/equitie...n-h1-earnings/

[PaddyJoe]

They only released one set of results, right? Everybody saw the same thing, no?

[Sam Lord]

They only released one set of results, right? Everybody saw the same thing, no?

lol

Did they not mention the debts?

The full story:

Revenues down 2.6%

The profit of 25 million is down 9 million.

http://www.inmplc.com/reports/uploads/2012_Interim.pdf

[PaddyJoe]

Karl Brophy in court today seeking damages for unfair dismissal. The case is expected to last six days, according to RTE.

[Dr. FIVE]

Karl Brophy

My case against INM settled today. Thanks to all the people (lots of whom I don't know personally) who sent support over past week.

[PaddyJoe]

Looks like IN&M didn't like the direction the case was going in:

FORMER Independent News and Media (INM) executive Karl Brophy has told the High Court he regarded a series of text messages from Denis O’Brien’s spokesman as “bizarre and threatening”.

The messages arrived after a journalist rang Mr Brophy for reaction to formal complaints from Mr O’Brien’s spokesman James Morrissey about negative coverage in Independent group newspapers concerning Mr O’Brien, the largest shareholder in INM.

Earlier, Mr Brophy said that the day after Mr O’Reilly was ousted from the company, he met his successor, Vincent Crowley, who told him that, if Mr O’Brien “did not want me in”, his position in INM would be unbearable, Mr Brophy said.

A week later, amid further controversy over legal action brought by Paul Connolly, a Denis O’Brien-nominated INM director, over Mr O’Reilly’s €1.87 million exit package, Mr Brophy said he met with Mr Crowley who told him, while he had performed his duties exceptionally well, “my role had gone too far with the Gavin stuff”.

The words “redundancy” or “cost saving” was never mentioned to him at any stage, he said

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...325508126.html

[PaddyJoe]

IN&M statement:

“INM wishes to confirm that no allegation of misconduct or wrongdoing has ever been made against Mr Brophy and no assertion of misconduct or wrongdoing has been maintained in these proceedings. It is also agreed that Mr Brophy accepts the evidence of Mr Vincent Crowley (INM chief executive) that the decision to make Mr Brophy redundant was Mr Crowley’s decision and Mr Brophy accepts that Mr Denis O’Brien had no hand, act, or part in that decision.”

http://www.businesspost.ie/#!story/H...f-242165868518

[Dr. FIVE]

Dear oh dear, doesn't befit the private sector does it?

[Dr. FIVE]

am enjoying NWL's dissections of INM

http://namawinelake.wordpress.com/20...at-high-court/

[DCon]

"Integration" of the Indo and Herald sought

Senior management also told staff yesterday it wanted to see greater integration of editorial operations between the Irish Independent and the Evening Herald. There is also to be greater integration between print and online operations.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...326091062.html

[DCon]

Who could McDowell be talking about?

Former tánaiste and Progressive Democrat leader Michael McDowell has criticised the Government for delaying the introduction of legislation to curb the concentration of media ownership.

Mr McDowell said there was a small number of “powerful people” influencing the media in Ireland, and this represented a “danger for democracy”.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Marion Finucane Show, he said the Government had let plans to introduce restrictions on media ownership slide.

“Looking at it from the outside, there’s an awful lot of talking up what they [the Government] are about to do...and then, suddenly, we can’t do it.”

“If you want to run a newspaper, don’t run a radio station. I don’t see there is anything wrong with that.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking16.html