Independent plunges into losses

The Independent, like other papers, has been hit by declining circulation

Newspaper publisher Independent News & Media's annual profit turned into a loss in 2008 as the health of the newspaper industry continued to worsen.

The group also said it was unable to refinance its debts and was likely to miss its interest payments.

The owner of The Independent newspaper reported a pretax loss of 161m euros (£144m) last year, down from profits of 248m euros in 2007.

Revenues at Independent News & Media fell 11.8% to 1.48bn euros.

The group also said trading in the first three months of 2009 had been "tougher than expected" and it has identified a number of "non-core assets" that it will sell to pay off its debt.

Standstill agreement

Independent News & Media said it was not able to refinance its 200m-euro debt obligation and there was a "strong likelihood" it would breach its covenants at some point during 2009 if it cannot reach an agreement with its creditors.

The publisher is seeking to reach an so-called "standstill" agreement with its debt with the banks and bondholders while it figures out a way to pay its debts beyond its next 18 May deadline.

The group publishes more than 200 newspapers and magazines across 22 countries.

Last month, chief executive Sir Anthony O'Reilly announced he will step down. Sir Anthony, 72, has been involved with Independent News & Media for 36 years, and has a 28.6% stake in the group.

His son, Gavin O'Reilly, will take over the role from 7 May.

There has been much speculation over the future of the The Independent newspaper, which has cut 90 editorial jobs and moved into the Daily Mail offices in West London in order to save money.

Newspapers and magazines have been badly hit by the economic downturn, with the collapse of the advertising market coming at the same time as declining circulation at most daily print publications.

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