The publisher of The Daily Mail has offered to repurchase its bond debt from lenders as it seeks to shield its finances from the cost-of-living crisis. This month the credit ratings agency Fitch revised the outlook on DMGT's bonds to negative, warning that the deteriorating economic environment means it would take the publisher longer to reduce its overall debt burden. Fitch told clients that weakening advertising demand, a tougher property market and the industry-wide decline of print newspapers represent threats to DMGT’s credit rating. The company has also been made more vulnerable to a credit rating downgrade by Lord Rothermere’s buyout, which involved the sale of business information divisions and made DMGT more dependent on UK revenues and consumer media. A lower bond debt would reduce the ratio between overall borrowing and underlying profits which is used by credit ratings agencies and banks to make their assessments.

Source: Daily Mail October 25, 2022 22:13 UTC