In its latest interim statement, the company announced a 20% year-on-year slump in advertising revenue for the 17 weeks to 25 October – an improvement on the 28% drop it saw in the first half of the year.

Regional advertising fell 27% in the period, while national advertising suffered only a 6% drop. The company said that it expected improvement to continue for November, with drops of 22% and 5% respectively.

Trinity's optimism follows on from similar statements by rival publishers with Johnston Press recording a similar improvement in its third-quarter results and Independent News and Media, which claimed the market was stabilising last month.

A Trinity spokesman said: "While the trading environment will continue to be challenging over the remainder of the year and into 2010, we anticipate that the rate of decline in revenues will continue to improve."

The Daily Mirror publisher claimed that it was seeing "positive effects" from a range of initiatives introduced this year. It is on track to deliver structural cost savings of £35m, with the absolute cost base falling by at least £65m for the full year. Net debt has also fallen by a further £16m during the period.

In line with its advertising improvement, turnover fell 12% year-on-year, compared to 17% in the first six months of 2009, while circulation dipped 3%.

Digital revenue was the only area that saw a bigger decline in the last quarter compared to the first half of the year, dropping by 22% compared to 17%.