Daily Mail group feels 'impact' of UK credit crunch on ad revenues

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has revealed a 5% increase in revenue for the third quarter of its current financial year, but warned that advertising conditions across its newspaper division were weakening.

Northcliffe Media, its local newspaper division, saw the steepest declines with total advertising rates down 11%.

All sectors recorded a year-on-year decline during the period. The property sector saw the steepest fall with a 25% drop for the period and a 36% year-on-year decline in June.

Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, experienced a 5% fall in advertising revenues from its newspaper operations but "strong growth" in the title's companion websites.

DMGT chairman Viscount Rothermere said: "Inevitably, the well-publicised deterioration in the UK economy since we last reported in May is having an impact on our newspaper businesses there."

However, despite the gloom in the newspapers division, DMGT saw a 6% increase in its business-to-business operations, housed under DGTI. The company said it continued to see "opportunities for strong growth across the portfolio".