Trinity Mirror hands back £250m

SLY Bailey's second anniversary as chief executive of Trinity Mirror today proved she has delivered on the first two of her three-pronged strategy - Stabilise, Revitalise, Grow - with profits well ahead of City forecasts.

That was despite a continued dire performance from the flagship Daily Mirror which Bailey described as 'disappointing'.

But she also held out the promise of growth through acquisitions despite announcing an unexpected £250m share buyback over the next three years.

Bailey said: 'While initiatives to date derive from our existing core business, the group will consider external opportunities to grow the business.'

Chairman Victor Blank said he was reviewing opportunities for acquisition, adding: 'We have the talent and resources to achieve this and, in returning capital to shareholders, we will not be inhibiting our plans for growth.'

Both directors rejected suggestions that the national newspaper titles, which also include the Sunday Mirror and The People, are up for sale. But the impact of the fake Iraq prisoner abuse pictures published in May smashed the Daily Mirror's circulation, which fell 5.3% in the first half and by 8.4% in the second half, taking it down to 1.7m. Only price rises and some improvement in advertising in the first half helped push up operating profits.

Bailey said: 'Maintenance of market share for the national titles will remain a key focus. However, the emphasis will be on building profitability and enhancing shareholder value rather than maintaining market share at any cost in a marketplace characterised by significant price-cutting and marketing activity.'

{2} Regional newspapers fared much better with a 25% jump in operating profits to £151m. Group pre-tax profits jumped by 26% to £217m in the year to 2 January or by 21% to £208.5m if the extra 53rd week of trading is excluded. Revenue was up 5.8% at £1.14bn.

Underlying earnings adjusted for the extra week rose 19% to 49p per share, out of which a 20.2p dividend is being paid, representing a 10.4% increase. Bailey said the dividend increase and share buyback represented 'the most significant return of capital in the history of the group'.

£5bn worth of happy returns

TODAY'S £250m share buyback from Trinity Mirror takes the total amount companies have promised to return to shareholders to well over £5bn.

Mortgage bank HBOS yesterday promised to purchase £750m of its own shares in the market this year. Betting group William Hill will issue and then redeem £453m of B shares. Media group UBM is expected to return at least £300m once it sells market research arm NOP.

Shell is likely to buy in between £1.6bn and £2.6bn of shares this year while miner Rio Tinto plans an £800m return of cash. Imperial Tobacco will purchase £200m of its own shares.