Mirror, Express and Star owner says its print titles will be loss-making from 2031

Reach’s Jim Mullen pointed out that declining print sales also meant a lower cost base, and that a loss of profitability did not mean titles would close. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

The boss of the publisher of the Mirror, Express, and Star newspapers has said that its print titles will become loss-making in six to eight years, but that its burgeoning digital strategy will save them from closure.

The chief executive of Reach, which owns more than 100 news brands including the Manchester Evening News, the Birmingham Mail and the Liverpool Echo, said he intended to remain committed to print even when the operations became a drag on the business.