Digital ad revenue boosts Johnston Press's underlying profit

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Johnston Press Plc (LSE: JPR.L - news) , publisher of "The Scotsman" and "The Yorkshire Post", said first-half underlying pretax profit nearly tripled, helped by a jump in revenue from its digital business and lower operating costs.

Edinburgh-based Johnston Press said underlying pretax profit rose to 6.1 million pounds ($10.2 million) for the six months ended June 28 from 2.1 million pounds a year earlier.

Revenue fell 4.3 percent to 135.8 million pounds. Digital advertising revenue grew 23.4 percent.

($1 = 0.5931 British Pounds) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)