Regional titles purchased by Trinity Mirror from GMG Regional Media performed ahead of expectations and boosted the group’s revenues and profits, according to a trading update published today.

The latest interim management statement from the company covers the 17 weeks of trading to 31 October.

And it shows advertising revenues at Trinity Mirror’s regional titles was up 21.4pc because of the purchase of the titles, which includes the Manchester Evening News and titles in the South East.

The statement also says the acquisition of the remaining 50pc of the Fish4 websites in October would boost digital recruitment advertising revenues by around £3m in the first year of full ownership.

The Guardian Media Group announced in February it was selling its regional arm to Trinity Mirror and the statement says the titles have now been fully integrated.

Figures in the statement show on an adjusted basis, which excludes GMG Regional Media, advertising revenues for the regional division fell by 6.7pc, an improvement from the 8pc decline for the first half of the year.

It says regional digital revenues have grown by 6.4pc but on an adjusted basis have fallen 3.3pc for the period.

For the group as a whole, total revenue was up 4pc but on an adjusted basis was down 5.4pc for the period and advertising revenue was up 13pc but down 4.6pc when adjusted.

The group says on-going management initiatives continue to drive efficiencies and it expects to deliver overall cost savings of £25m.

The statement says: “The board envisages that the trading environment will remain challenging over the remainder of the year and into 2011, however, it anticipates that the rate of decline in revenues will improve.”