Trinity Mirror is planning to double planned cuts to £20m to offset falling print revenues, just three months after announcing it was planning to make £10m in structural cost savings.
In a trading update covering the first half of 2015, the publisher of the Daily Mirror said print revenues are expected to fall 11%, with print advertising down 19%. Circulation revenue is expected to fall 6%, with falling sales partly offset by a cover price increase on the Mirror to 60p in May.
Digital revenue continues to grow, up 40% driven by a 50% rise in online audience.
The company said cost savings coupled with continued investment in digital would help it remain on course to deliver planned profits for the year. The company made £102.3m in profit in 2014 and paid a £7.5m dividend to shareholders, its first since 2008.
The cuts are expected to increase restructuring charges from £10m to £15m. In May, the company cut 27 roles, including 14 posts from its new formats team which focused on digital projects such as Ampp3d and UsVsTh3m.
“The revenue environment has remained challenging throughout the first half, continuing the trends experienced at the end of 2014,” said Trinity. “Whilst monthly revenue trends are expected to be impacted by further volatility for the rest of the year, at this stage, the board continues to expect profits for the year to be in line with expectations.”
Trinity confirmed it plans to challenge the £1.2m damages for phone hacking awarded to eight celebrities in the high court in May. Following the awards, the company doubled the pot it had set aside to cover phone hacking to £28m.
