The publisher of The Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman stayed in profit in the nine months after it was bought by Media Concierge once extensive one-off costs are taken into account.
Iconic Media Group comprises the former National World (also previously JPI Media and Johnston Press) business after it was acquired in May 2025 and subsequently renamed.
New parent company Media Concierge Group also includes media advertising agency Mediaforce and The Leaflet Company.
Iconic Media Group Limited’s accounts were for the nine-month period to 30 September 2025 in order to shift them in the year so they now align with Media Concierge’s reporting period. This means they are not directly comparable to National World’s final pre-acquisition accounts.
Iconic reported revenue of £52.1m in the nine-month period (of which 69% came from print) and a loss before tax of £3.6m, according to Companies House accounts.
However, the publisher said it made underlying EBITDA of £3.9m before exceptional items.
Exceptional items included £6.6m (of which £2.1m related to “employee restructuring”) while depreciation was £191,955 and amortisation was £920,859. “Significant” back office “synergies” have been made since Iconic integrated into Media Concierge.
Gross profit margin for Iconic was 25.3% (down from 29.6% in 2024).
Media Concierge Group chief executive Malcolm Denmark said: “What a year. The existing businesses within the group continued to grow and perform well, and the integration of National World has proved very successful.
“There were, of course, one-off costs that came with the acquisition. Even taking those into account, the business was highly profitable throughout the period. Our focus now is on completing the integration properly and building on the strength of these titles, their journalism and the trust they have in their local communities.”
In 2024 (the 12 months to 31 December) National World Publishing Ltd (which is now Iconic Media Group Ltd) made revenue of £82.6m and profit before tax of £9.7m.
Iconic owns regional newsbrands across Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North East, North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South of England including the Express & Star in Wolverhampton, Sheffield Star and the Belfast News Letter.
Revenue at Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited was up by a fifth in the year to 30 September, reaching £137.6m.
Profit before tax according to the Companies House filing was £3.4m (down from £7m in 2024) while the company said EBITDA was £12.9m. The group reported a gross profit margin of 23.7%.
Since the ownership change, Iconic Media has undergone a major restructure aimed at returning centralised journalists and commercial teams back into local newsrooms.
In May, the publisher announced it is creating 50 new journalism jobs including dedicated editors for the Sunderland Echo, Doncaster Free Press, Harrogate Advertiser and Sussex Express.
During the nine months to 30 September Iconic (and previously National World) had an average of 831 employees including 539 in editorial/photographic and 192 in sales and distribution.
Earlier this month Iconic announced a content partnership with outgoing Impartial Reporter editor Rodney Edwards who will work with the publisher to create a new production company developing podcasts, documentaries, interviews and other long-form formats.
Denmark said: “Iconic Media Group has a long-term commitment to local journalism in Northern Ireland and to the communities served by our titles.
“Our priority is to protect the strength of those local brands while also developing new products, new formats and new commercial opportunities around high-quality journalism. This partnership is a practical step in that direction.”
Last week Iconic bought Northern Ireland local newspaper business Alpha Media Group which publishes 13 titles including the Ulster Gazette.
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