The National Federation of Retail Newsagents has welcomed the Competition and Market Authority’s phase one inquiry into Trinity Mirror’s takeover of the Express newspapers, citing concerns about price rises and reduction in competition. The CMA launched an inquiry on 10 April after the Daily Mirror owner struck a £126.7m deal in February to buy the Express and Star newspapers from press baron Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell company.
“We did fear some repercussions for news retailers when the takeover by Trinity Mirror was first announced and as they have become a reality we will be happy to share our concerns with the regulator,” said NFRN national president Linda Sood.
“Firstly, we will remind the CMA that the 11 daily newspapers and nine Sunday publications that now exist are owned by just a handful of PLCs or individuals and this will be further reduced by the Mirror buyout.
“Secondly, the worst fears of independent retailers were recognised just recently when cover prices on the daily and weekend copies of both the Express and Star increased but the margins that news stockists received were slashed to bring them in line with those offered by the Mirror publications.”
She said margins of 24.2% on both titles received by retailers had been slashed to 22.5% for weekday publications and 21% for the weekend papers.
Culture secretary Matt Hancock is also considering whether it raises media plurality concerns under the Enterprise Act.
Last week the NFRN submitted an “explosive” 32-page document to the CMA calling for an investigation into newspaper and magazine distribution in the UK.
The document flagged up concerns about the rise of carriage charges, plummeting margins and poor service as the duopoly of Smiths News and Menzies Distribution reduced competition within the sector.
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