PA Media’s third floor newsroom at The Point in Paddington, pictured in 2019. Picture: PA Media
PA Media Group has reported stable revenue for 2025, ending its eight consecutive years of growth.
Newly-published accounts on Companies House show PA Media Group reported revenue of £115.9m in 2025, down 0.3% compared to 2024.
The core news agency business PA Media, which makes up 30% of group revenue, was up by 1% or £0.2m.
Two divisions saw small declines: stock photo and video marketplace Alamy, which also makes up 30% of total revenue, was down by 2% or £0.6m as it signed more one-off AI training deals in 2024.
Revenue at live sports streaming business StreamAMG was down by £1.1m or 10% in 2025 due to the loss of clients.
The two other PA Media Group divisions are sports data business Podium (formerly PA Betting Services, up by £1m or 4% due to new business) and the PR and marketing division which includes Hydrogen, Sticky and PA Mediapoint (up £0.1m or 1%).
Profit before tax fell by 56% from £8.6m to £3.8m as 2025 included £6.6m of exceptional costs attributed to restructuring and the payment of £3.9m for a lease provision as a result of vacating a floor in the group’s office in Paddington, London. Equivalent exceptional costs in 2024 were £1.6m.
The accounts said group EBITDA profit (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) was up 3% to £16.3m.
PA Media Group has £21.1m cash and cash equivalents in the bank, down from £24.4m the year before.
Chief executive Emily Shelley said in a strategic report accompanying the accounts that the group made “significant progress… for the next phase of its growth and the next phase of the media industry” in 2025. A three-year plan was put in place for 2026 to 2028.
Shelley joined in April 2024 and other leadership changes followed in 2025: editor-in-chief Jack Lefley started in January, chief revenue officer Ranj Begley joined from Readly , chief financial officer Bruce Marson came from M&C Saatchi and chief technology officer David Henderson arrived from Global.
Shelley said: “A full strategic review of the Group was conducted in the autumn of 2025, resulting in a new divisional structure, investment in product and technology and more unified commercial operations…
“The business ended the year with a strong balance sheet, a clear strategy for growth and a new leadership team in place to deliver.”
Staff numbers were down from a monthly average of 987 in 2024 to 970, with a decrease in operations roles (from 636 to 617) and increase in administration (from 267 to 273). This follows the same trends as the prior year, with 992 average employees in 2023.
In the first half of 2025 PA Media cut around 25 editorial roles from its UK content team.
The highest-paid director, who was not specified, received £499,000 in 2025, up from £476,000 the year before
Dividend payments of £7.5m were approved in 2025, the same as the year before.
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