Online investment takes a chunk of Guardian profits

Newspaper group counts the cost of online loss-leaders...

Guardian Media Group has announced a dip in profits which it blames on heavy investment in its online offerings. The company, which publishes the Guardian newspaper as well as the Guardian Unlimited websites announced pre-tax profits had fallen to £67.3m for the year ending 1 April, from £73.5m for the previous year. UK Newspapers have to date been offering online content as a loss-leader, however, The Times is the first to break ranks and announce plans to start charging for online content.