Trinity sees 10% slide in ad revenue
TRINITY Mirror, the newspaper group that publishes the Liverpool Echo and the Manchester Evening News, has reported a 10% fall in advertising revenues since the start of the year.
In an interim management statement covering the 17 weeks to May 1 the company said it had been hit by Government spending cuts, with public sector advertising income down 47%.
The group, whose flagship title is the Daily Mirror, saw total income fall 6% and said the market remained challenging due to the “fragile economic environment and the adverse effect of public sector spending cuts and tax increases”.
“These factors continue to adversely impact the key drivers of our business, such as consumer confidence, unemployment and the property market and are contributing to revenue declines.”
The group said advertising revenues increased by 1% after taking into account sales at the Manchester Evening News and the string of Greater Manchester weeklies it acquired when it bought GMG Regional Media in March 2010.
But after stripping these titles out revenue dropped by 10% with recruitment advertising falling by 22%. Circulation revenues fell 6% but digital income was up 3%. At the national titles ad revenue was down 9% while circulation income fell 5%. Digital income also fell 9%.
However, management have been buoyed by a cost-cutting drive that is expected to strip out overheads of £15m this year – £5m more than planned. It also said it was making progress with an investment programme designed to drive revenues.
During the period net debt increased by £20m to £286m due to a £33m payment towards the group’s pension deficit. It expects to pay a further £2m this year and said debt will fall in 2011.
