 has set aside an additional £7.5 million to cover costs relating to phone-hacking scandal allegations.){kind=link}
Trinity Mirror (LON:TNI) has set aside an additional £7.5 million to cover costs relating to phone-hacking scandal allegations.
The publisher and newspaper has now put forward £60 million in total to cover costs related to the phone-hacking scandal.
Trinity noted that it had settled over 80 percent of claims relating to the scandal, however additional funds were needed due to “the lengthy process of settling claims and the structure and quantum of legal fees for the claimants”.
Alongside this, Trinity Mirror also said like-for-like group revenues were set to drop 9 percent in the 26 weeks to 2 July.
Print advertising revenue dropped by 21 percent across the period, while circulation revenues fell 6 percent, with traditional forms of media continuing to feel the strain of a challenging trading environment.
The group did note that it performed comparatively well last year, boosted from a strong performance during the European championship.
Chief executive Simon Fox said of results:
“The trading environment for print in the first half remained volatile but we remain on course to meet our expectations for the year.
“I anticipate that the second half will show improving revenue momentum as we benefit from initiatives implemented during the first half of the year.”
The group also confirmed it had agreed upon a five-year print and distribution deal for the Guardian and Observer newspapers commencing early 2018.
This follows The Guardian’s decision to switch to tabloid printing format, in a bid to streamline costs.
Trinity Mirror is the UK’s largest newspaper, magazine and digital publisher, publishing 240 regional papers alongside national press.
These include Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People. Following its £220 million purchase of Local World in 2015, Trinity Mirror became the countries largest publisher.
Back in September of 2014, the newspaper group admitted that some of its journalists had been involved in phone-hacking of many high-profile celebrities and individuals.
Shares in the group are currently trading up by 5.26 percent as of 10.57AM (GMT).