British newspaper group Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) said a decline in the national advertising market slowed in July but it still remained weak, reflecting the fragile UK economy.

The company, whose flagship Daily Mail newspaper is Britain's top-selling mid-market tabloid, said today national advertising revenue fell 3 per cent in the first three weeks of July, compared with a 9 per cent drop in June.

DMGT's national newspapers continued to improve their market share in the three months to end-June but circulation revenues fell by 3 per cent as the overall readership for print newspapers continues to decline. Regional advertising sales fell 10 per cent.

The Mail on Sunday is expected to win readers after the closure of News Corp's News of the World, which was Britain's best-selling Sunday before it was hit by the phone-hacking scandal.

DMGT's share price rose sharply in the days following the announcement of the News of the World's closure but has since fallen back and is down 26 per cent this year.

Chief executive Martin Morgan said in a statement the company's business-to-business operations, which include financial publications and risk management, would help it lift earnings for the financial year to end-September.

"We still expect to achieve some growth in earnings per share for the full financial year ... despite the volatile and uncertain market conditions faced by the UK consumer businesses," he said.

Revenue from B2B operations rose 8 per cent on an underlying basis to £229 million in the quarter to end-June, DMGT said.

Reuters