Trinity Mirror expects drop in fourth quarter revenue

(ShareCast News) - Trinity Mirror expects group revenue to fall in the fourth quarter, reflecting a slump in print advertising sales.In a pre-close trading update, the owner of British newspapers the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror said it anticipates group revenue will drop by below 8% in the fourth quarter compared to a 9% fall in the third quarter.Publishing revenue is forecast to dip 8% in the last three months of the fiscal year as a 10% slide in print offsets an 8% increase in digital.Print advertising revenue is expected to slide by 17% while circulation revenue is estimated to dip 5%.Nevertheless the company said it is confident that performance for the year will be marginally ahead of expectations, with net debt falling to about £35m by year end."We continue to make good progress against our strategic initiatives whilst supporting profits and delivering strong cash flows," Trinity said in a statement.Meanwhile, the group has now settled 80% of claims in its phone hacking scandal. However, it has increased the provision set aside to cover damages by £11.5m.Shares rose 3.27% to 86.75p at 1010 GMT.