Isabella Piasecka, Media Week, 28 February 2008, 2:46pm

Trinity 2008 ad revenue suffers weak start

LONDON - Trinity Mirror expects its ad revenue in January and February to be 3% lower than in the first two months of 2007.

Speaking after the release of the company's 2007 financial results, chief financial officer Vijay Vighela said that retail advertising - the company's biggest display category - was down marginally in both January and February.

On a regional level, ad revenues fell by 4% in January, but by only 2% in February.

Vighela added that display ads were up in January, but down in February, with recruitment showing an opposite trend.

Property advertising experienced high double-digit declines in January, due to people returning to work a week later than normal this year.

Motor advertising, however, suffered a double-digit percentage decline, continuing a trend in the company's 2006 results.

However, Trinity anticipates a "satisfactory" performance over the course of the full year.

Adjusted revenue for the 12 months to December 31 fell to £1.01bn, from £1.07bn in 2006, while adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £208.9m, from £213.6m in 2006.