Reach PLC (LON:RCH), formerly known as Trinity Mirror, has said it expects full-year trading to be in line with expectations, however it also upped its provisions for settlements stemming from the phone hacking scandal.
The media group said it expected revenue for the 2018 financial year to grow by 11% year-on-year as a result of the acquisition of the Daily Express and Daily Star from Northern & Shell in February, however on a like-for-like basis revenue was expected to decline 8%, with publishing falling 8% and print by 10%.
READ: Government clears Trinity Mirror’s £127mln acquisition of Express and Star owner Northern & Shell
The outlier was the company’s digital arm, which was forecast to grow by 1% in the year.
The firm also said that, due to claimant’s lawyer’s fees being higher than expected, it was setting aside an extra £7.5mln for the settlement of legal disputes relating to phone hacking.
Reach added that while there was uncertainty regarding how the claims would progress, they did not undermine the delivery of its strategy.
In its outlook, the group said it anticipated performance to be in line with market expectations, with the impact of higher than anticipated newsprint prices in the second half of the year expected to be offset by the delivery of synergies resulting from the Express and Star acquisitions following regulatory clearance on June 20.
Simon Fox, Reach chief executive, said: "We have seen some improvement in May and June driven by stronger national print advertising. Following the welcome clearance by the Secretary of State, we will start the process of integrating Express & Star in order to accelerate the benefits that our combined scale will deliver."
In early morning trading Friday, Reach shares were up 4% at 79.1p.