Trinity Mirror looks to digital for revenue
NEWSPAPER publisher Trinity Mirror has said it will continue its focus on developing its digital offering as it looks to claw back lost revenue.
Interim results by the publishing group, which runs the Liverpool Post & Echo and the Manchester Evening News, show first half revenue declined by almost £30m to £332m compared with last year, although pre-tax profits held up at £49.3m (2012: £48.1m).
The group said trading for the first six months had been slow with year on year revenue declines of 12.6% in January and February. However, it said it was encouraged by the improved year on year trends in March to June although revenue still declined 6.6%.
In July, revenues fell by 6.5% with circulation revenues down by 2.3%, advertising revenues down by 11.7% and other revenues down by 10.6% with printing revenue broadly flat.
Chief executive Simon Fox said: “We expect the trading environment to remain difficult for the remainder of the year with continued month on month volatility. Although newsprint prices have increased for the second half, the benefit of at least £10m of structural cost savings and the ongoing cost mitigation actions will ensure the group has adequate headroom for investment whilst supporting profits.
“The benefits of the strategic initiatives and ongoing cost mitigating actions across the group provide the board with confidence for the group’s performance for 2013.”
Fox said there had been a number of investments and initiatives during the first half to revitalise core brands. These have included hybrid editions of a number of regional titles with the paid for circulation being supplemented by free copies to grow reach.
He said that building on the success of the hybrid edition of the Manchester Evening News, the group had launched hybrid editions of the Birmingham Mail, The Western Mail in Swansea and the Reading Post.
