Advertising Remains Volatile At Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror, the UK’s largest newspaper group, today said that advertising conditions have remained volatile during the last six months, with a 0.6% increase in Q1 being offset by a 0.4% decline in Q2. Overall, the period will show flat year on year growth for the group.
The regional newspaper division is expected to achieve advertising revenue growth of 0.6% in the half. However, discounting the Digital Media and Metro newspaper divisions from the figures, the regional papers will show a decline of 0.3%; down 0.8% in Q1 and up 0.3% in Q2.
Trading at the regionals remains weakest in London and the south-east. Excluding these regions and the Metro titles, the regional division should see ad growth of 1.2% year on year; London and the south-east will retract by 4.4%.
At the national papers, ad revenues are expected to fall by 0.8%, with a 0.1% increase in the UK nationals to be offset by a 3.4% decline in the Scottish national papers. A strong first quarter saw advertising revenue grow by 1.4%, but Q2 was weaker with revenue expected to fall by 3.1%.
Group circulation revenues are expected to fall by 2.8% in H1. The regionals will be down by 1.0%, whilst the nationals drop 4.4%. The company says that restoring the normal cover price of the Daily Mirror has impacted on circulation, which fell year on year by 5.2% for the first five months.
Last year Trinity Mirror spent £21.8 million on a cover price battle between the Daily Mirror and the Sun. This pushed circulation revenues down by 7.6% (see Bailey Moves To Stop Mirror-Sun Price War As Costs Hit ).
Shares in Trinity Mirror were down by 1.4% at 430.5p following the release of this morning’s trading statement.
