Trinity Mirror looks for further job cuts

Dozens more jobs are at risk at Trinity Mirror after the newspaper publisher doubled cost-reduction plans made just four months ago from £10m to £20m.

The fresh cuts came as Trinity said that its revenues continue to fall and are likely to be down 11 per cent in the half-year that ends on Sunday. The biggest decline is in print advertising revenues, down by 19 per cent. Digital revenues are up by 26 per cent. The sharpest decline in newspaper advertising has come in May and this month, with revenues said to have fallen by as much as 30 per cent.

Trinity also confirmed that it will appeal against the damages handed down by a judge in May to eight mobile phone hacking victims.

The newspaper group pleaded guilty but said it was appealing about how damages were calculated in the eight specimen cases.

The actress Sadie Frost received the biggest payout, £260,250, with other actors, Shobna Gulati, Lucy Taggart and Shane Richie, being awarded £117,500, £157,250 and £155,000 respectively.

Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was paid £188,250 while flight attendant Lauren Alcorn, who was intimately linked with another England footballer, Rio Ferdinand, won a payout of £72,500. TV producer Robert Ashworth received £201,250 and BBC executive Alan Yentob £85,000.

Trinity cut 27 jobs in May, among them 14 at its new digital formats arm, which includes Ampp3d. It would not say how many more jobs would go from its 4,400-strong workforce. It told the stock market: “The revenue environment has remained challenging throughout the first half, continuing the trends experienced at the end of 2014. 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.”

Alex DeGroote at the broker Peel Hunt, who rates the shares a buy with a price target of 275p, said: “The national figure is tough, but as ever the response from the company is swift and effective. The growing success in digital is welcome... real content delivering real eyeballs becoming increasingly attractive to advertisers.”

Trinity shares dropped 8.75p to 150.5p.