This year, the group has suffered from a sharp decline in advertising revenue and falling circulations and has embarked on an aggressive restructuring plan, involving pay freezes and site closures.

In November it released a profit warning saying that revenues would be down by 5.4% on the previous year.

Andy Viner, head of media at BDO Stoy Hayward, said: "Trinity appears to have been hit by a 'quadruple whammy' of significant declines: in classified advertising; the impact of the move towards digital advertising; the downturn in consumer spending, which is limiting opportunities to increase cover prices; and lastly a fall in circulation figures.

"Trinity Mirror has tried to rectify the situation by undergoing a restructure which has included cutting jobs, but the question is – will this be enough?"

He added: "The industry is currently in a cyclical decline and quite probably long-term structural decline. Therefore, we would expect some defensive consolidation in the near future – provided the competition authorities would allow such a move."

Viner's comments came as JP Morgan called for a relaxation of the competition laws surrounding newspaper consolidation.