Profits crash at Trinity Mirror as review sparks speculation about break-up

LONDON - Pre-tax profits at Trinity Mirror have dived 12.8% on the back of a tough ad market, which is set to continue into the second half of the year, and the Daily Mirror publisher has called a review of its business to be completed by the end of the year.

The review will be concluded by the end of the year and will spark speculation that Trinity Mirror could be looking at breaking up its business and selling off its national newspaper titles.

Speculation has long surrounded the group, suggesting that it would be worth more to investors if its national and regional newspaper divisions were split into separate companies.

This appears to be the view the market has taken this morning, with Trinity Mirror shares up 3.9% in early trading to 464.5p.

Pre-tax profits fell by £14.4m to £98.1m as revenues dropped by 2.2% to £566.6m, contributing to operating profits falling by 14.3% to £110m, in what proved to be a challenging trading period. Conditions in the ad market remained poor in all sections of the market except property advertising.

Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror chief executive, said: "Our results should be viewed in the context of a weak advertising environment.

"Looking forward, it is clear that continued change in the media market will create increasing challenges for the group in continuing to build on this progress. The board has therefore initiated a review of our businesses, operating models and structure in order to determine the best way of taking the group forward and capturing the opportunities available to us."

The group hit its cost-saving targets of £9m and said it was on target to deliver savings of at least £15m in 2006.

Its national newspaper business suffered from price cutting, promotional costs and was hard hit by the falling ad market. The same challenges faced the regional newspaper division, which recorded year-on-year revenue declines and struggled for circulation.

"The difficult advertising market is expected to continue into the second half of 2006. Despite these challenges, the board expects performance to be in line with current expectations," Bailey said.

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