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The figure covers the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro, the London Evening Standard and Teletext. It breaks down into a 5% fall in display revenues and a 9% fall in classified.

The 95% rise in digital ad revenues includes the effects of acquisitions such as property website  and , which it paid £22m for in August.

Issuing the trading update today, DMGT said the outlook for the ad market was hard to call, although it saw "some signs of an improving display market".

The group's share price fell by 1.02% in early trading this morning to 582p.

The group expects its varied portfolio of businesses will help it to offset the weak ad market and the multimillion-pound costs of launching its new freesheet London Lite as it battles News International's thelondonpaper.

DMGT said: "Since we last reported in May... the business-facing and digital divisions have enjoyed further good growth in revenues, the consumer operations are still seeing difficult trading conditions and the modest improvement in the display advertising market for our national newspaper titles during the spring has proved patchy."

National newspaper circulation revenues for the 11 months grew by 1.6%, helped by cover price rises for the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.

DMGT's regional newspaper business, Northcliffe, has had a harder time than the nationals, and its overall ad revenues were down 8%, down 5% excluding the 17% fall in recruitment revenues. Digital revenues were up 18%.

Regional circulation revenues dipped 0.9%. Northcliffe is still undergoing the Aim Higher restructuring and cost-saving programme that DMGT intensified, following its decision not to sell the business last year. DMGT said it remains on target to reduce annual costs by £45m by the end of September 2007.

DMGT's other businesses performed well, although it could not comment on Euromoney Institutional Investor because it is in an offer period following its £224m agreed bid for Metal Bulletin.

DMG Information grew revenues by around 22%. The exhibitions division grew revenues by around 6%, and DMGT's Australian radio business is expected to report a 10% rise, although DMGT said this was "disappointing in the context of its growth plan".

DMGT is set to report its annual results on November 23.

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