Trinity Mirror calls time on New Day

5th May 2016 10:05

(ShareCast News) - In a trading update for the four months to the 1 May, Trinity Mirror said it was calling time on The New Day just nine weeks after its launch, citing disappointing sales."Although The New Day has received many supportive reviews and built a strong following on Facebook, the circulation for the title is below our expectations," Trinity said."Whilst disappointing, the launch and subsequent closure have provided new insights into enhancing our newspapers and a number of these opportunities will be considered over time."The paper was launched in February and Trinity was looking to circulate around 200,000 copies a day.In the four months from 28 December to 1 May, group revenue fell 8.6% on a like-for-like basis, with publishing sales down 8.5% and print down 10.9%.Publishing print advertising revenues declined 19% and circulation revenues fell 4.5%.On the upside, however, digital revenue grew 15.7% and Trinity said it continues to see strong growth in digital audience, with average monthly page views, excluding galleries, across the publishing sites growing by 22% to 755 million on a like-for-like basis."The trading environment for print advertising continues to be volatile. We continue to focus on the delivery of our strategy, namely growing our digital audience and revenue, coupled with tight management of the cost base," the company said, adding that it anticipates the performance for the year to be in line with market expectations.At 1028 BST, shares were up 7.3% to 121.25p.