DMGT ups revenues but is wary of future

Daily Mail and General Trust today said trading in the final three months of 2008 was "ahead of expectations" but warned that the immediate outlook could be much worse.

Chief executive Martin Morgan said operating profits in the first quarter of the group's financial year were "well ahead of our expectations and only marginally below a strong first quarter last year".

Revenue rose 2% to £568 million, largely because of the dollar's strength, with the exhibitions business performing well. But revenues at Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, fell 5%. Regional papers group Northcliffe's revenues dropped 18%.

DMGT said: "Visibility on future advertising performance is very limited."

Finance director Peter Williams said a rise in debt from £1.02 billion to £1.53 billion was almost entirely due to increased dollar borrowings.