The trading update today from parent company revealed that its newspaper assets are continuing to lag behind the company's business publishing interests.
DMGT revealed that January ad revenues were particularly weak for national newspaper division Associated, down 23%, and regional newspaper division Northcliffe, down 40%.
The company warned that "visibility on future advertising performance is very limited".
October-December operating profits at Associated were down 5% while DMGT simply described Northcliffe operating profits as "well below the prior period".
Associated's ad revenues for the quarter fell 8%. Print revenues suffered more than digital, with a 9% fall including a 17% drop in classified ads income.
The London Lite provided a bright spot amid the gloom with a 21% increase in display revenues.
There was 6% growth in digital revenues at Northcliffe, which owns the '' network of local websites. 'ThisIs' visitor levels were 67% higher year on year.
Staffing levels across Associated and Northcliffe were reduced by 6% in the last quarter of 2008, and group businesses are currently in consultation about further reductions.
Despite the drag from its newspaper businesses DMGT reported a 2% rise in overall revenues to £568m and operating profits "marginally lower than last year".
Its business-to-business divisions such as Risk Management Solutions enjoyed substantial revenue growth due in part to the weakness of sterling boosting their overseas income.
DMGT shares have fallen slightly in early morning trading by 1.2% to 274p.
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