Prince Harry was awarded £140,000 in damages for «widespread and habitual» damage. phone hacking at the Mirror between 1996 and 2009 Photo: Kin Chung/AP
The publisher of the Daily Mirror has cut its expected payout for the historic phone hacking, despite losing the high-profile case to Prince Harry.
Reach, which also publishes the Express and many regional titles, said the expected cost of settling claims had fallen by more than £20 million.
It came even after a High Court judge awarded Prince Harry £140,000 in compensation for «widespread and habitual» phone hacking at the Mirror between 1996 and 2009.
The Duke of Sussex identified himself dragon slayer and singled out former Mirror editor Piers Morgan, whom he accused of knowing about the newspaper's illegal activities.
Despite the defeat, the judge said any claims filed after October 2020 were likely to , will be rejected.
>Rich said this means a number of outstanding claims could be resolved and «should go a long way toward ending future claims.» It cut projected settlement costs by £20.2m.
Jim Mullen, chief executive of Reach, said the decision was a «big deal for us», adding: «Essentially it means that all the money we have to save and we can’t invest in journalists, commercial teams, products that we can now release.”
He also pointed to a recent pension review which expected contributions to be cut by around £40 million from 2028.
Reach shares jumped more than 15% after the update.
Mr Mullen hailed a “successful year”; despite the newspaper group's problems. Photo: Eddie Mulholland
It comes after the newspaper publisher reported a sharp fall in profits after announcing steep job cuts late last year.
Rich posted statutory operating profits of £46.1m in 2023, down more than 35% on the previous year.
This was largely driven by restructuring costs after the company has cut about 800 positions as part of a broader cost-cutting program. Excluding the impact of the restructuring, profits fell 9% to £96.5 million.
The numbers cap a torrid year for the publisher, which has been grappling with a slump in advertising and the influence of social media algorithms. Changes
Digital ad revenue fell 15%, which Rich blamed on broader economic uncertainty and a “significant decline in page views” after Facebook deprioritized news content.
Print advertising revenue was more resilient but still down nearly 12%. Mr Mullen previously warned the group's print businesses could become unprofitable within five years.
Total revenue fell 5.4%, or £32.8m, to £568.6m
Reach, whose regional titles include the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, has been struggling to find direction amid the unfortunate transition to the digital age.
Unlike other publishers, the business failed to convince readers to pay for subscriptions, causing its advertising revenue to decline.
Instead, executives hope to increase reader registrations in an attempt to obtain data for use in advertising. and e-commerce.
The company also expanded its operations in the US, launching the Mirror and Express websites there.
However, Reach employee morale fell to a new low after the company large-scale job cuts.
In November, the publisher said it would cut 450 jobs (or 10% of its workforce) this year, aiming to cut costs by 5% to 6%. That has led to layoffs of up to nearly 800 people a year, with the company refusing to rule out further job losses.
Rich is experimenting with using artificial intelligence to write news, and Mr Mullen said the company would hire social media . media influencers.
The moves angered staff at company-wide meetings and Mirror editor Alison Phillips resigned in January over the cuts.
Mr Mullen said: “Despite macroeconomic pressures, we have continued to build a stronger digital business with a growing share of much higher revenues, reducing our dependence on the open market.
“At the same time, we have managed our print business skillfully. , supporting circulation revenues, as well as implementing required cost and efficiency plans across the group.
“Collectively, all of these actions have strengthened the position of our business so that we can continue to provide excellent content to our audiences, as well as income for our shareholders.»
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