The alert was sounded as Trinity revealed group ad revenue plunged nearly one-third (30%) year on year in the 17 weeks to 26 April.
Unveiling an interim management statement, Trinity said "early indications for May" were that group circulation revenue was expected to fall by around 5%.
Group advertising revenue in the period to 26 April fell by 30% year on year, reflecting, it said, a decline of 30% for January and February and a decline of 29% for March and April.
Ad revenue at its regionals division fell by 36% in the period, reflecting a decline of 37% for January and February, and a fall of 35% for March and April.
Trinity noted that all advertising categories were down year on year, with declines in the period of 24% for display, 50% for recruitment, 54% for property, 35% for motors and 15% for other classified categories.
At its nationals division, ad revenue for the period fell 17%, reflecting, it said, a decline of 16% for January and February and a decline of 18% for March and April.
Group digital revenue for the period fell 13%, with a fall of 14% at its regional titles and 11% for its national papers.
The company warned: "The economic downturn and the resulting reduction in demand for recruitment and property advertising, which we have seen in print, is also impacting our digital classified revenues. However we continue to see growth in digital display advertising across both our regionals and our nationals."
Looking ahead, Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey said trading conditions were impacting "to some extent, all our sources of revenue, although we expect the rate of decline to ease as we go through the remainder of the year, as we benefit from weaker comparatives".
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