Aberdeen Journals Limited
Registered name: ABERDEEN JOURNALS LIMITED
Part of D.C. Thomson & Company Holdings Limited groupAberdeen Journals Limited made £19.4m revenue and £2.9m profit in the year to 31 Mar 2025. read from filing text
Aberdeen Journals Limited’s revenue fell 4% to £19.4m in the year to 31 Mar 2025, with £2.9m profit and 143 employees. The company is classified under “printing of newspapers” and is based in Dundee; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Dundee, Scotland
- Age
- 98 yrs · since 1928
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently. From the filing: “The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of D.C. Thomson & Company Limited, a company incorporated in Great Britain and registered in Scotland.”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Mar 2022 | 31 Mar 2023 | 31 Mar 2024 | 31 Mar 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&Lread from filing text | Full P&Lread from filing text |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £19m | £19.7m | £20.2m | £19.4m |
| Cost of sales | £2.9m | £6.1m | £15.7m | £12.3m |
| Gross profit | £16.1m | £13.6m | £4.5m | £7.1m |
| Profit before tax | £5.1m | £1.1m | £838k | £3.8m |
| Profit after tax | £4.1m | £904k | £639k | £2.9m |
| Profit (best available) | £4.1m | £904k | £639k | £2.9m |
| Staff costs | £7m | £7.1m | — | — |
| Employees (average) | 199 | 197 | 157 | 143 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 21.8% | 4.6% | 3.2% | 14.8% |
| Gross margin | 84.8% | 69% | 22.1% | 36.6% |
| Revenue per employee | £95.4k | £99.9k | £128k | £136k |
| Profit per employee | £20.8k | £4.6k | £4.1k | £20.1k |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲3.8% | ▲2.4% | ▼3.9% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼78.1% | ▼29.4% | ▲349% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▼1% | ▼20.3% | ▼8.9% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £45k | £5k | £3k | £6.1k |
| Net assets | £11.1m | £12m | £12.7m | £3.5m |
| Fixed assets | £2m | £1.8m | £1.6m | £1.4m |
| Current assets | £13.3m | £13.2m | £13m | £4.7m |
| Debtors | £1.2m | £1.1m | £1.1m | £1m |
| Deferred income | £1.9m | £1.5m | £1.3m | £1.5m |
| Source | Accounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | Accounts · bulk data Dec 2023 | FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Dec 2025 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 14.8%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 36.6%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £136k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £20.1k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 7.3%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 7.6%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 5.3%
- Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Balance-sheet signals
Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.
- Net assets
- ▼72%
- Now £3.5m
- Cash at bank
- ▲100%
- Now £6.1k
- Headcount
- ▼9%
- Now 143
- Deferred income
- ▲11%
- Now £1.5m
- Fixed assets
- ▼11%
- Now £1.4m
Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.
Group structure
Ownership chain
- D.C. Thomson & Company Holdings Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- D.C. Thomson & Company Limited75–100%
- Aberdeen Journals Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Sister companies (23)
- Bananaman Productions LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Beano Productions LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Beano Studios LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Brightsolid Online Innovation LimitedRev. — · Profit −£589
- Clavamore LimitedFigures not disclosed
- D.C. Thomson (Energy) LimitedFigures not disclosed
- D.C. Thomson Enterprise Finance LimitedFigures not disclosed
- D.C. Thomson Investco LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Dandy Entertainment LimitedFigures not disclosed
- DC Thomson Magazine Publishing LimitedFigures not disclosed
- DCT Nominees LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Dennis & Gnasher 3 LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Golfing Scotland LimitedFigures not disclosed
- John Leng & Company LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Kingdom FM Radio Ltd.Figures not disclosed
- Marvo the Wonder Chicken 1 LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Meadowside Leasing LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Original Aberdeen FM LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Scots Magazine, LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Taytel LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Tayview LimitedFigures not disclosed
- The Stylist Group LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Thomson Magazines LimitedFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Mar 2025 (profit £2.9m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Dec 2025. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.