It is understood that the Irish-based company was trying to offload its two UK newspapers before the announcement in order to offer additional positive news.

However, it said: "Discussions continue with Alexander Lebedev in relation to the proposed disposal of the titles, with an announcement expected very shortly."

In the UK, turnover tumbled from €172.9m to €122.7m, a 29% dip, while operating loss worsened from €1.1m to €6.9m. The Nationals division, which incorporates the two UK titles, reduced its loss thanks to cost savings of more than €20m, while advertising revenue fell 33.1% year-on-year.

INM recorded group losses before tax of €31.4m loss got 2009 following exceptional costs on a pretax profit of €114.4m. €161.m in the year to December 2008.

Turnover dropped 15% year-on-year from €1,476.7m to €1,255.9m, however, the company said that its turnover represented a "resilient performance" by the group. On top of this, it recorded a drop in operating cost of 9.1% to €107.6m and slashed its net debt by €266m to €1.04bn and agreed a new bank facility until 2014.

Group chief executive Gavin O'Reilly said: "Both advertising and underlying profitability in each of our geographic regions stabilised in the second half of 2009 and that trend has continued into 2010, with certain markets already showing year-on-year operating profit growth.

"While it is still very early in the year, if these current trends continue, we would target an improvement in operating profit for 2010.

"In the immediate term, vigilant cost management and further debt reduction will remain priorities and, as economies recover, we will focus on converting our leading market share positions into revenue and operating profit growth."