Trinity Mirror reports advertising revenue fall

Newspaper group Trinity Mirror reflected the downturn in consumer confidence today after it said advertising revenues fell in March and April.

The weaker performance for the last two months partially offset gains seen at the start of the year, when Trinity Mirror achieved better-than-expected revenues growth of 6.5% in January and February.

The trading update – issued ahead of the company’s annual general meeting - comes two months after the owner of around 240 regional and local newspapers and five national titles announced a 25.7% rise in annual profits.

Chairman Victor Blank said one-off factors meant it was unwise to place too much emphasis on the recent revenues fall.

He told shareholders: “Whilst trading was ahead of expectations for the first two months the advertising market softened during March and April.

“It is too early to determine the implications of recent trends in advertising revenues partly due to the timing of Easter relative to 2004 and uncertainties created by the General Election.”

Despite the current weakness, Blank said Trinity remained confident in its strategy and that it expected a “satisfactory outcome” for the year.

Overall, group advertising revenues increased by 2.3% in the first four months of the year, following a 1.4% decline in March and April.

The regionals division, which includes the Liverpool Echo and the Birmingham Evening Mail, saw an increase of 4% as growth in most categories offset a 2.7% decline in recruitment advertising and a 0.8% fall in motors.

The nationals division saw advertising revenues fall by 2.4%, including a 3.9% decline for UK titles and a 2% rise for Scottish nationals.

Circulation revenues in the first four months increased by 3.1% with the regionals division up by 4.8% and the national titles ahead by 1.6%.

In March, Trinity Mirror said it was in “good shape both operationally and financially” after it met all its targets in the first full year of its “Stabilise Revitalise Grow” strategy.