Ad sales slump makes grim reading for Mirror owner Reach

(Sharecast News) - Daily Mirror and Express publisher Reach said third quarter print advertising revenues plunged by a fifth as circulation fell by 4%.Like for like group sales fell 7%. Group revenue rose 21%, reflecting the purchase of the Express & Star titles.The company's email marketing business Communicator Corporation was sold for £7.6m with £6.8m received in cash on completion. The rest will be handed over in March 2020.Chief executive Simon Fox said Reach would make savings of £2m this year from the purchase of the Express stable. Synergies were forecast to hit £20m by 2020."Our continued focus on tightly managing costs and driving digital revenue continues to provide confidence that performance for the year will be in line with market expectations." Fox said.