Trinity Mirror warns on revenue, to cut costs further

(Reuters) - British newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror Plc said it was targeting to double cost savings for the year from its earlier plans as weak print advertising took a toll on first-half revenue. The company, which has been battling lower advertising rates at the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, said it targeted cost savings of 20 million pounds this year compared with its previous target of 10 million pounds, to protect profit. The higher cost-savings target would, however, increase restructuring expenses by about 5 million pounds to 15 million pounds, Trinity Mirror said. "Despite the weak revenue trends, the company has plenty of cost savings it can still drive..." Liberum analysts said in a note, and kept their "buy" rating on the stock. Trinity Mirror said on Friday that it expected an 11 percent fall in revenue for the 26 weeks ending June 28, as print advertising revenue fell by almost a fifth during the period. Underlying digital publishing revenue, however, is expected to jump 26 percent in the period, helped by a 50 percent rise in average monthly unique users and page views. Trinity, which also owns the Daily Record, the People and regional titles such as the Liverpool Echo and Manchester Evening News, said it expected full-year profit to be in line with expectations. Trinity Mirror, which has been embroiled in the high-profile celebrity phone-hacking scandal, confirmed that its subsidiary MGN Ltd was seeking permission to appeal against a court ruling ordering it to pay a total of 1.2 million pounds in damages to eight phone-hacking victims. Last September, the newspaper group admitted liability over hacking the phones of four people and said it would pay compensation. Shares in Trinity Mirror, which dates back to 1832, were down 5.2 percent at 151 pence at 0730 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)