REGIONAL and national newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror has seen a stark tumble in operating profit of nearly 24% while its net debt sits at £262.2m.
The plc, which owns the Birmingham Post and Mail, Sunday Mercury, Coventry Telegraph and associated weeklies and websites, said today operating profit had fallen from £61.7m to £47.1m.
In its half-year results for the 26 weeks ended July 3, 2011, Trinity said it remained cash generative with net debt falling by £3.7m, group revenue down year-on-year from £382.2m to £371m and earnings per share down from 13.8p to 12.2p.
Pre-tax profit fell from £50.4m to £41.9m for the period, which the statement attributed to a drop in public sector spending, tax increases and weak retail sales among other factors.
It said it had seen a “significant improvement” in the performance of its national Sunday titles following a marketing campaign in the wake of the News of the World’s closure last month.
Digital revenue also saw a small rise from £16m to £17m. Operating profit fell sharply though with a drop from £23.7m to £14.8m in print and down from £5.2m to £3.6m in digital.
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