Post and Mail publisher bolstered by digital revenues
BIRMINGHAM Post and Mail publisher Trinity Mirror has seen a 5% fall in group revenue for the 17-week period to the end of October.
However, the group’s position was bolstered by a strong performance from its digital operation, which saw a 44% growth during the period, more or less in line with the 46% growth seen in the year-to-date.
It said it continued to see month-on-month volatility in print revenues, in particular within national advertising revenues where trends have deteriorated relative to the first half. It expects this trend to continue for the remainder of the year.
Continued momentum on its strategic initiatives coupled with ongoing cost mitigation and an increase in structural costs savings to at least £12m helped bolster the confidence of the board, which said it expected that profit for 2014 would be in line with expectations.
However, it said due to phasing, capital expenditure for the year was expected to be lower than the previously expected £15m. Restructuring charges in respect of cost reduction measures are expected to be marginally higher than the previously anticipated £12m, resulting in an increase in structural cost savings.
Commenting on the performance, Simon Fox, chief executive, Trinity Mirror, said: “I am pleased with the strategic progress we are making in building the scale and reach of our digital brands.
“At the end of September our group digital audience exceeded 90m monthly unique users with continued strong growth in digital revenue. Despite the recent deterioration in national press advertising trends I remain confident that our strategic initiatives will ultimately deliver sustainable growth in revenues and profits.”
The company said it had also continued to deal with and resolve a number of civil claims in relation to phone hacking. During the period a number of claims have been settled and a subsidiary, MGN Ltd, has admitted liability to a number of individuals who had sued MGN for alleged interception of their voicemails many years ago.
Trinity said these steps had been anticipated and that at this stage no changes were required to the provision held for dealing with and resolving civil claims in relation to phone hacking.
