UK newspaper group Trinity Mirror is in a lot of trouble: it is to launch a comprehensive review of its entire business after pre-tax profits at the newspaper publisher plunged 12.8% in the first half of the year. Profits fell to GBP 98.1 million at the group, which owns 240 regional newspapers as well as the Mirror titles and the People due to the weak advertising market. Revenues fell 2.2% to GBP 566.6 million in the first half compared with the same period last year,
Trinity’s digital media activities, contained within the regionals division, grew with ad revenues up 14.7 per cent and the group making five online classifieds-related acquisitions in the past year and a half.
Investment bank Rothschilds has been hired to advise the firm on its options, and could include sale of flagship Daily Mirror. Full earnings release is here.
Roy Greenslade: “This is a company that has reached the point of no return. CEO Sly Bailey has done her best, I guess. But her best has not been good enough (and, in fairness, may never have been enough) to rescue a newspaper giant that, due in part to a troubled history, is crumbling before our eyes. Chairman Ian Gibson will do well to obtain the GBP 1.3 billion price some analysts believe it should attract.”
Also read: “Trinity Mirror regional sites to stress newspaper brands“
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