LONDON (Alliance News) - Trinity Mirror PLC said Thursday it anticipates performance for 2018 to be in line with market expectations, even as like-for-like revenue dropped in the first four months.
For the period to April 29, the newspaper publisher reported a 9% drop in like-for-like revenue. "Print advertising trends were marginally better in March and April, but this was offset by the severe weather conditions during March which negatively impacted circulation revenue," Trinity said.
Publishing revenue for the period fell 9% - with print declining 11% but digital increasing 2%. Publishing print advertising revenue fell by 17% and circulation revenue by 7%.
Digital display and transactional revenue grew by 7% in the period.
Trinity's net debt at the end of April was about GBP85 million after an GBP88 million payment for the acquisition of Express & Star and increased pension contributions.
The UK government will intervene in Trinity's GBP126.7 million deal to buy the string of titles from Richard Desmond's media empire - Northern & Shell Media Group Ltd - on public interest grounds, UK Culture Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
Hancock's move to issue a so-called public interest intervention notice for the Trinity deal means UK watchdogs Ofcom and the Competition & Markets Authority must now report on the media public interest considerations and on any competition issues by May 31.
Hancock said he would then decide whether to refer the merger for a more detailed investigation.
Chief Executive Simon Fox said on Thursday: "I am pleased with the actions we have taken to protect print profitability whilst continuing to build our digital revenue. Our tight management of the business, the completion of the acquisition of the UK publishing assets of Express and Star, and appropriate investment in building our digital business make me confident that 2018 will be another year of progress."
Shares in Trinity Mirror were down 1.9% to 84.88 pence each.