Trinity Mirror today revealed that its purchase of GMG Regional Media in March has already generated £6m in revenues.

In an interim management statement, Trinity said the £7.4m acquisition, which included the Manchester Evening News and other titles, was “performing ahead of our expectations.”

Figures for the first 17 weeks of trading in 2010 up to 2 May show that, excluding the GMG titles, overall group revenues have fallen by 5pc year-on-year compared to the same period in 2009.

However if the GMG titles are included, the fall in revenues comes out at just 2pc.

“The acquisition of the GMG Regionals was completed on 28 March 2010 and during the five-week period to 2 May 2010 it contributed revenues of £6m,” said the statement.

“The acquisition is expected to be profitable during 2010 and is performing ahead of our expectations.”

Trinity said advertising revenues in the regionals division had fallen by 8pc year-on-year, while circulation revenues were down 7pc.

The decline accelerated during March and April, with the general election identified as one of the factors affecting performance.

“Trading conditions continue to be volatile with limited visibility on revenues, factors that were exacerbated during April in the run up to the general election,” said the statement.

Fellow publisher Johnston Press also attributed falling ad revenues to the election in its own interim management statement yesterday.

Comments

Alan Salter (13/05/2010 10:25:57)
Now all is clear. GMG got rid because it was about to become profitable!