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PUBLISHER DC Thomson has suffered a fall in pre-tax profit after being hit by weak performance at its Parragon books business.
The Dundee-based owner of The Sunday Post and Courier newspapers, saw earnings before tax drop 23.8% to pound(s)23.7 million for the year to March 31.
A pound(s)39.4m gain from disposal of financial assets was insufficient to offset weakened underlying earnings as the family-owned business took a pound(s)25m impairment on its books arm.
Group revenue fell to pound(s)252m in its most recent financial year from pound(s)272m in the year to March 2012.
As turnover at the books business fell to pound(s)84.6m for the year, down from pound(s)97.7m, it made a pound(s)1m operating loss after a profit of pound(s)3.4m in the 2012 financial year.
Operating profit was up 29.4% at its newspaper and magazine division after it centralised printing in Dundee and outsourced distribution.
There was a 33.9% fall in operating profit at DC...