Newspaper publishing group, Trinity Mirror, has increased its group revenue by 1.2% during the first six months of 2005, despite contending with a difficult advertising market, reflecting the slowdown of the UK economy since the beginning of the year.
In its interim results published today, the Group revealed operating profit to be up 7.9% year on year, with operating cash flows up by 2% to £129.9 million, and stable net debt at £457.4 million.
Trinity said that the results showed that it was on track to achieve a £250 million return of capital over three years, with £32.5 million expended on share buy-back over the last six months.
The publisher announced that, over the past three years, it had invested £83 million in printing presses, enhancing manufacturing efficiency and providing full colour for the Group’s five national newspapers and a number of regional titles by the beginning of 2008.
Commenting on the results, Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror said: “We have delivered a satisfactory performance, despite the current trading environment. I believe that this demonstrates that we have stabilised and revitalised the business to achieve sustainable improvements in performance. Having stabilised the core business, we remain fully focused on growth.”
Pretax profits for the group increased to £113.2 million, up from 98.5 million during the first half of last year.
Trinity warned, however, that there seemed little prospect for an improvement in the advertising market in 2005.
The publisher denied industry speculation earlier today that it was holding talks with a potential buyer for its Daily and Sunday Mirror titles, with Bailey saying the Group was “not in discussions regarding the sale of any of out titles.”
Last month, Trinity was rumoured to have received a bid for the Daily Mirror, from a consortium led by multi-millionaire conference organiser Marcus Evans (see Trinity Rejects £800 Million Take-Over Bid For Mirror).
However, according to The Times, the bid was rejected despite Evans offering between £700-800 million for Britain’s third-best selling daily.
Rumours about a possible take-over bid for Trinity first began circulating at the end of 2004, with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners reported to be in the early stages of an offer, following in the footsteps of an earlier proposition from Candover Investments (see Rumours Of Trinity Mirror Takeover By CVC Capital Partners).
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