Trinity Mirror to continue regional consolidation
Newspaper group Trinity Mirror has said that it could continue to consolidate within the regions as it posted an operating profit rise of 17 per cent, rising to £123.3 million from £105.4 million for 2010.
The company has admitted that future consolidation within the regional could take place as it revealed that its operating costs fall by £25 million to £64.7 million.. however Trinity's regional division also saw its operating profits rise from £35.9 million to £51.7 million.
A statement issued by the company, explained: "The Group believes that scale in regional media can be an important driver of value for shareholders and the acquisition of GMG Regional Media during the year was a compelling demonstration of this," said the statement.
"The Group will consider further regional consolidation opportunities where there is a strong financial case and a good commercial and strategic fit."
The acquisition of GMG Group’s regional Media last February was also described as “highly successful”.
The statement continued: "The acquisition has been fully integrated into our regionals division and extends the group’s reach across print and digital providing further scale in these key geographies."
Chief executive of Trinity Mirror, Sly Bailey added: "Although 2010 proved to be as challenging as expected, we made good progress in rolling out our new operating model, integrating GMG Regional Media and increasing profitability and margin whilst managing extremely volatile revenue trends throughout the year.
“Many of the challenges we faced in 2010 remain in 2011. However, our planned investment initiatives to grow revenues coupled with our focused approach to tightly managing the cost base will help support profits this year whilst positioning the group for growth when market conditions improve," she added.
As well as the GMG regional purchases, which included The Manchester Evening News, Trinity Mirror also took over fish4 in October which boosted its online recruitment advertising revenue by around £3 million.