Johnston Press profit slides despite cost-cutting measures

(Reuters) - Johnston Press Plc (JPR.L), the publisher of the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, reported a 27 percent fall in adjusted pretax profit as cost-cutting measures were not enough to make up for a fall in revenue.

* Stock fell about 20 percent to a resord low but pared some of the losses to trade at 11.4 pence at 1019 GMT, making it the second-biggest loser on the London Stock Exchange.

* Peel Hunt analyst Alex DeGroote said the company's pension liabilities and rising debt would weigh on its bottom line as the group's bonds mature on June 1, 2019.

* Johnston Press has been battling a fall in advertising spending, much like other publishers, and has resorted to cutting jobs at an average rate of 12.2 percent in the last five years to reduce costs.

* Johnston Press has also been selling some "non-core" titles. Most recently, it sold its Isle of Man titles to Tindle Newspapers for 4.25 million pounds ($5.6 million).

* The company has said it will continue to focus on its i news website, which has grown 3.4 percent in digital revenue.

* Johnston Press also said on Thursday it was too early to assess how Britain's vote to leave the European Union would affect the company's revenue, a stance that its larger peer Daily Mail (DMGOa.L) has also taken.

* The nearly 250-year-old company's adjusted pretax profit fell to 12.3 million pounds in the 26 weeks ended July 2, while revenue fell 9.7 percent to 113.9 million pounds.

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)