Caxton & CTP Publishers & Printers has begun piloting AI in its media division, and says it has so far applied the technology to copy editing rather than to writing.
The disclosure appears in the group’s results for the year to 30 June 2026, published on Friday. The results describe a deliberately cautious roll-out.
Caxton Media has “started to pilot various” AI initiatives, the company said, adding that it has implemented copy-editing processes rather than content generation and that there are further opportunities to drive efficiencies in its newspapers.
Caxton publishes The Citizen along with a large stable of community newspapers.
The financial backdrop may explain the interest in using AI tools. Caxton’s local newspaper business lost 11% of its revenue over the year. Advertising spend by national retailers fell 9.7% and local advertising – the small businesses that fund local, community titles – declined by 14%, which the company attributed to advertisers that are struggling to survive and that cannot afford to advertise.
Operating costs in that business came down 7%, and profitability still fell. Across the publishing, printing and distribution segment as a whole, revenue declined by R191.4-million, or 6.4%, and operating profit before depreciation fell 18.1%. Packaging and stationery, the group’s other half, grew revenue 1.9% over the same period.
Dividends
Digital is the one part of the publishing business that is growing. Caxton’s digital portfolio grew revenue 17%, more than doubled its annual users and lifted pageviews by 23%. The Citizen grew revenue 8%, users 25% and pageviews 30%, which the company said outperformed broader market trends.
Caxton is not short of money while it works out how to deploy AI in its newsrooms. The group ended the year with R3.1-billion in cash, lifted its final dividend to 80c/share, from 70c, and paid a once-off interim dividend of R1/share during the year. Group revenue fell 1.8% to R6.59-billion and headline earnings per share dropped 5.7% to 168.6c. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
