Trinity Mirror see continued robust advertising

Newspaper group Trinity Mirror offered further signs of a more buoyant advertising market today after seeing revenues continue to rally.

The group, which has around 250 titles and 11,500 staff, said advertising revenues in the first four months of the year had been 4.9% higher on a like-for-like basis than a year earlier.

The strongest sales growth came in Trinity Mirror’s regional arm, with a rise of 5.8%, while the nationals division showed an improvement of 2.7%.

The company, which provided the trading update ahead of its annual general meeting, pointed out that advertising conditions for its regional titles in London and the South East had shown an encouraging trend.

In terms of circulation, like-for-like revenues were up 7.7% on a year earlier after regional titles improved by 3.7% and nationals by 8.6%.

Trinity Mirror said the performance reflected the benefit of cover price increases and the end of price cutting at the Daily Mirror a year ago.

In February, the group posted an 11% rise in annual profits after taking the first steps in its "Stabilise Revitalise Growth strategy", a project involving tight cost management and a more focused publishing approach.

Chairman Sir Victor Blank said: "Our performance improving strategy is progressing well and is reflected in the revenue improvements we have seen during the year so far."