Dent in Mirror's circulation dwarfed by Trinity Mirror profits increase

LONDON - Trinity Mirror has admitted the fake Iraqi prisoner abuse pictures published by the Daily Mirror last May cost the paper 3% of its circulation, as it revealed annual group profits were up by 25% to £216.8m.

The figure includes an extra week of trading, which accounted for almost £8m. Even without counting this, the group's profit margin was up from 19.4% to 21.7% and turnover climbed from £1.08bn to £1.13bn.

Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey said the results represented the effect of the first full year of Trinity's "Stabilise Revitalise Grow" strategy and that the company had delivered on all of its financial targets.

The group announced its intention to return up to £250m to its shareholders through a share buyback programme over the next three years, as well as increasing its annual dividend by 10%.

Chairman Sir Victor Blank said: "We have both the talent and resources to achieve [growth] and in returning capital to shareholders, we will not be inhibiting our plans for growth."

The national newspaper division showed improvement, with circulation revenues up 4.7% to £274.2m and advertising revenues up 3.9%, the first increase since 2000.

The regional division was stronger, with circulation revenues up 6% to £80.7m despite circulation decline, and advertising revenues up 6% to £417.8m.

A number of Trinity's regional titles have been relaunched in tabloid format and the company said its digital activities will form a key pillar of its strategy, with its focus on becoming a multiplatform local publishing and advertising business.

Regional journalists are putting pressure on the company for a 5% pay rise, with the NUJ organising an out-of-hours protest for today.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to ±±¾©Èü³µpk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content