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Regional press news - this story published 13 December 2007

Trinity Mirror revenue up but advertising expected to remain 'volatile'

by holdthefrontpage staff

The advertising market remains volatile, according to Trinity Mirror's latest trading update issued today.

But the company's digital arm had plenty to cheer as group-wide revenues have grown by 28.7 per cent for the 11 months to November. This includes a 98.5 per cent hike in their nationals division for the five months to November.

The statement said: "The advertising environment in 2007 improved on previous years. However, month on month volatility remains and we expect this to continue in 2008.

"The board is confident that our 2007 performance will be in line with expectations."

Trinity Mirror publishes more than 200 local and regional titles, including the Birmingham Post and Evening Mail, Liverpool Post and Echo as well as the free daily Metro. They also publish three UK national newspapers and two Scottish nationals.

The main points of the statement are:

Regionals division – advertising revenues for the five months to November have increased by 0.6 per cent compared to a decline of one per cent for the first half.
This resulted in an overall decline in advertising revenue of 0.3 per cent for the 11 months to November.

Nationals division - advertising revenues for the five months to November increased by 5.6 per cent. This compares to a fall of 2.3 per cent for the first half resulting in an overall increase of one per cent for the 11 months to November.

Group advertising – revenues for the five months to November, excluding the businesses disposed of and including all acquisitions on a like-for-like basis, increased by 2.1 per cent year on year.
This compares to a decline of 1.5 per cent for the first half resulting in a small increase of 0.1 per cent for the 11 months to November.

Group circulation – revenues for the five months to November have grown by 0.7 per cent year-on-year, maintaining the 0.7 per cent growth seen in the first half. Within this, nationals have grown by 0.9 per cent and regionals have grown by 0.2 per cent. For the 11 months to November group circulation revenues have grown by 0.7 per cent.

Group digital – revenues for the five months to November, on an underlying basis, have grown by 33.3 per cent. This shows an increase of 27 per cent for the regionals division and 98.5 per cent for the nationals. For the 11 months to November group digital revenues have grown by 28.7 per cent with an increase of 24.6 per cent for the first half.