The drop is on a par with the 12% decline in the period from the beginning of the year to 28 March. Another regional publisher, Trinity Mirror, is due to provide a first quarter trading update on Thursday (12 May).
Johnston Press experienced bigger declines in ad revenue in the first quarter than .
The Yorkshire Post publisher said the rate of decline for the first five weeks of the second quarter, which included Easter and the Royal Wedding, was 7.8%.
Employment was the weakest performing advertising category, due to public sector cutbacks, falling 30.7% in the first quarter.
Display advertising fell 7.9% in the first quarter, but rose 5.5% in the first five weeks of the second quarter.
The target of £5m additional savings is on top of a previously announced £10m savings target intended to offset the higher costs of newsprint.
The savings will be achieved by making back office functions more efficient and will not impact editorial or customer-facing roles, according to a spokesman.
Despite the declines, the company expects its full-year results to be in line with current market expectations of around £27m in pre-tax profits.
The company has not made any progress in reducing its debt, which stood at £388m at the end of 2010 and is now £388.7m.
There was no update on the company's search for a new chief executive to replace John Fry, .
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