In its interim management statement for the quarter ending 26 October, the company said that its group revenue for the year was down 5.4% on the previous year, and group revenue for the latest 17-week period fell by 11.4%.

The key driver for the revenue dip, as with Johnston Press which released its results yesterday, is advertising revenue.

Trinity recorded a 19.4% drop in the last 17 weeks, while being 11.3% down across the whole year to date.

According to Trinity, the two main faltering areas are recruitment and property advertising, which dropped by 27% and 46.4% year-on-year in the 17-week period respectively.

Trinity said that the reduction in consumer discretionary spend had a marginal impact on circulation revenue. Digital advertising continues to increase, but this has now slowed, it added.

In a statement made to the London Stock Exchange, the group stated: "In view of these uncertain market conditions, we expect trading to remain challenging and therefore remain cautious about prospects for the remainder of 2008 and for 2009."

However, there were some positives for the company. Trinity is expected to announce annual cost savings of £25m in 2008 – £5m ahead of target. It is also expected to record cost savings of at least £20m in 2009.