Not so moderate
From Steven Walker Sir: I read with interest your article by Stephen Glover (Media studies. 26 June). I was particularly interested in your comment that the Scotsman has been no more than moderately successful. It concerns me when industry commentators make these kinds of statement without any form of comparison. In terms of circulation, our titles have fared no worse than many of the London-based newspapers, as you can see if you care to examine the monthly ABC figures. In terms of profitability, we are now generating a profit regularly of about £8 million against a turnover of £59 million. This represents a return on sale of 13.5 per cent. Like every other newspaper group, we have taken the hit of the decline in advertising revenues of the last few years but, with good management, we have returned this company to acceptable levels of profit well before the advertising market has recovered. How many of the nationals can make that claim?
Steven Walker
Managing Director The Scotsman Publications Ltd, Edinburgh
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