More cuts on the cards at Trinity Mirror as print advertising revenue slumps

NEWSPAPER publisher Trinity Mirror – which owns the Birmingham Post & Mail and the Coventry Telegraph – is expecting to see a dramatic decline in print advertising revenue.

And it is now looking to make £20m of cost savings this year – double its original target.

In a pre-close trading update ahead of its 2015 interim results announcement, it informed the London Stock Exchange that print advertising revenue is expected to fall by 19% in the 26 week period to June 28.

Trinity Mirror said the revenue environment has “remained challenging” throughout the first half, continuing the trends experienced at the end of 2014.

But it added that while monthly revenue trends are expected to be impacted by further volatility for the rest of the year, at this stage, the board continues to expect profits for the year to be in line with expectations.
 
During the period in question, revenue is expected to fall by 11% year on year.

Better news comes from its digital offering with average monthly unique users and page views growing by more than 50%.

The growth in audience drove an increase in digital display revenue of more than 40%.

“Mobile continues to be an increasingly important component of digital revenue growth and we are enhancing our products and advertising formats to take advantage of the ongoing opportunity in this area,” it said.
 
Trinity Mirror said publishing print revenue trends have been adversely impacted by more challenging print advertising markets with the key retail and telecoms categories being more challenging, reflecting tough comparators and reduced volumes across the market.

Circulation revenue is expected to fall by 6%.

The group recently announced it was to cut 25 editorial department jobs across its Birmingham and Coventry titles.

And further ‘cost reduction’ is on the cards.
 
Its statement this morning said: “In light of the more challenging revenue environment the group has reviewed its current cost reduction programme and is now targeting structural cost savings of £20m for the year, an increase on the £10m target announced in March 2015.

“This coupled with on-going cost mitigation actions and continued investment to drive digital audience and revenue will help underpin profits. The increased targeted cost savings will result in restructuring costs increasing by some £5m to £15m.”
 
Trinity Mirror said the business continues to deliver strong cash flows and it paid a dividend of £7.5m in June 2015, the first dividend payment since 2008.