Daily Mirror cover price to rise

Scottish readers will be spared the increase

UK newspaper group Trinity Mirror is to raise the cover price of its flagship tabloid Daily Mirror by 3 pence, to 35 pence, from 1 March.

The news came as the group announced an 11% annual earnings growth for 2003 compared to the previous year.

It reported pre-tax profits of £173m ($327m), on a modest 0.5% rise in turnover to about £1.1bn.

The group has no plans to sell any newspapers, after selling seven Irish and Northern Irish titles last year.

Its share price was virtually unchanged at 1335 GMT at 599.5 pence, up 0.5 pence.

'Increasing value'

Explaining the Daily Mirror price rise, Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, said tabloid cover prices had not kept pace with the retail price index for a decade.

"But at the same time they have offered increasing value to readers," she said.

She claimed the Daily Mirror was "out-scooping its rivals", such as the Sun, which sells for 30 pence.

The price of the Mirror in Scotland, where the group also publishes the Daily Record tabloid, will stay at 30 pence.

Trinity Mirror publishes national titles and 260 regional newspaper such as the Birmingham Post, and The Journal in Newcastle.

Sunday titles

The company predicted advertising revenue growth in the "low single digits" for 2004.

It has one-quarter of the popular Sunday newspaper market where its Sunday Mirror and People titles compete with the News of the World.

In an attempt to cut costs 314 staff left the company last year, with another 236 redundancies still to take place in 2004.

The publisher was forced to put its Irish newspapers up for sale in July as part of the shake-up of its business in the light of falling sales at the Daily Mirror.