Trinity Mirror said today advertising revenue fell 2.5 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier.
But the group, which owns the Irish Mirror, the Sunday Mirrorand the Sunday People, said advertising revenues were up 0.3 per cent in the first two months of the fourth quarter.
The company, which sold the Sunday Business Postto Thomas Crosbie Holdings earlier this year, says it has limited the impact of the current recession in advertising by cutting costs and reducing its spending on digital media.
Trinity said there have also been encouraging signs of advertising growth for its regional newspapers over the past two months. It said it expects December to show a small improvement over October and November.
October saw overall advertising growth year on year of 1.2 per cent with recruitment up by 2.6 per cent.
Revenues also grew marginally by 0.6 per cent in November with recruitment up by 1.4 per cent.
This compares to a year on year fall of 2.4 per cent in the third quarter and 2.5 per cent in the first half.
PA