The company cited improved advertising revenues in November, along with tight management of the cost base for its positive outlook. The publisher also remains on target to deliver £20m cost savings for the current year.
Trinity Mirror's interim results were published as the group, which publishes the Daily Mirror among other titles, demanded evidence to be provided to back up recent hacking accusations that have been made against its publications, since claim forms are yet to be received.
The newspaper publisher issued notices yesterday for accusers to serve claim forms regarding the allegations made at the end of October.
Meanwhile the publisher's interim results revealed that regional publications suffered most with a drop in advertising revenue of 13% helping to push the division’s total revenue down 9% to £89m.
Total revenue from nationals reached £135m, a 12% decline for the period, with circulation income down 18%. Advertising revenues fell 9%.
Digital revenues fared best, growing by 8% to bring in £14m for the period. The figures were boosted by Communicator Corp, the digital communications company acquired by Trinity Mirror in December 2011.
The company said strong cash flows and robust operating profits during the period enabled it to pay off a further £19m of its debt, bringing it down to £162m. Debt reduction has reached £59m since the beginning of 2012.
It paid the £20m remainder of its £135 bank facility on 22 October and opened a new £110m loan to last until August 2015. No drawings were made on the new facility for this quarter.
Restructuring costs are expected to be around £10m for the year, £5m less than predicted. In October, the new chief executive Simon Fox announced a structural change and the creation of a ‘One Trinity Mirror’ strategy to merge regional and national titles and accelerate the roll out of digital products across Trinity Mirror’s portfolio.
Capital expenditure is anticipated to be less than the forecasted £15m for the year as the company continues investment in new publishing systems.
The company recently confirmed that it was in discussions towards taking a minority interest in a new company comprising Northcliffe Media and Iliffe News & Media, but as yet no offer has been made.
Overall, Trinity Mirror said it was "pleased" with the group’s performance for the period. It had expected revenue declines compared to Q3 last year in light of the closure of the News of the World in July 2011.
