THE newspaper publisher, Trinity International Holdings, owners of the Belfast Telegraph, has announced pre-tax profits of £27.5 million sterling for 1995, a 20 per cent increase on the previous year. Turnover rose by 2 per cent to nearly £168 million.

Trinity bought five regional papers from the Thomson Group in January. It included Thomson's Northern Ireland operation, consisting of the Belfast Telegraph, the Sunday Life, and the listings weekly, Ireland Saturday Night. Trinity chief executive, Mr Philip Graf, said the figures represented record profits for the company, and had been achieved in spite of a rapid increase in the price of newsprint.