Media industry investors will be hoping Trinity Mirror plc (LON:TNI) is more upbeat than the owner of the Daily Mail when the Mirror publisher updates the market on Friday.
Daily Mail and General Trust plc (LON:DMGT) said on Thursday that it was cutting staff following a downturn in newspaper advertising, with reports saying the number of job losses could top 400.
Trinity, which owns the Mirror titles and The People, said at the start of August that it expected second-half trading to stay volatile.
Numis Securities trimmed estimates at the time to reflect both the reported results and current trading and the increased uncertainty following the ‘Brexit’ referendum result.
Trinity said at the time that like-for-like publishing revenues in the first half were down 8%, with print revenue down 10.3% and digital revenue rising 14.4%.
First-half circulation revenues fell 4.7% on an underlying basis with print advertising down 17.2% and like-for-like digital revenues up 14.4%.
Numis analyst Gareth Davies said: “Whilst the trading backdrop remains tough for Trinity Mirror, we feel this is more than reflected at the current share price and remain comfortable with our ‘buy’ and 210p target.”
Trinity’s shares were 0.25p, or 0.3%, down at 92.25p in afternoon trading on Thursday.
Meanwhile, identity data intelligence specialist GB Group plc (LON:GBG) is expected to report first-half results in line with expectations.
Broker Peel Hunt said: "Mid-term, we see upside risk to estimates as underlying demand for GBG products and services continues to grow, new contract wins continue and acquisitions are fully integrated into the group."
Other companies reporting include:
AGM: Entertainment One
Capital Markets Day: WS Atkins