Johnston Press saw like-for-like print advertising revenues decrease by 8.0% for the five months ended 30 November 2006.
The regional paper group added that if fast growing digital revenues were included this decline would reduce to 7.4%.
In a trading update for the second half of the financial year ending 31 December 2006 , Johnston Press said that as anticipated at the time of the announcement of their half year results, there has been no discernable improvement in the advertising environment other than that resulting from easier comparatives from the second half of 2005.
The fall in employment revenues, which was 24.2% in the first half of this year, has reduced to 12.2%, which Johnston says reflects easier comparatives.
The one category still experiencing growth is property advertising, albeit at a slower rate as the comparatives get tougher.
Newspaper sales revenue continue to grow on a like-for-like basis with increased cover prices more than offsetting declines in circulation.
The increase in organic digital revenues continued throughout the period despite reduced in-paper employment volumes, which through packaged selling have been a significant driver of digital revenue growth.
Johnston says that to further accelerate the rapid progress it is already making in this area, it is proposing to spend an incremental £5.0 million in 2007 on increased marketing and development of our digital activities.
Johnston adds that it does not see any early indication of improvements in advertising markets other than those coming from easier comparatives. However, it says that 2007 will benefit from the News International contract running on the new press in Dinnington and this, together with the ongoing contribution from recent acquisitions and continued efficiency improvements, should help to mitigate the impact of any continued weakness in advertising demand.
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