Media group Trinity Mirror saw its shares dive more than 10 per cent on the FTSE 250 after it announced a fall in revenue of five per cent in the 17 weeks to 2 May.

The group which owns the Mirror newspaper, one of the few papers to back the defeated Labour party at the general election, saw advertising revenue drop five per cent from the previous year, while revenue from circulation dropped six per cent. Revenue from other sources fell one per cent.

Overall group revenue declined five per cent.

In a statement Trinity Mirror said, "Trading conditions continue to be volatile with limited visibility on revenues, factors that were exacerbated during April in the run up to the General Election. The trading environment continues to affect all our sources of revenue, although we expect the rate of decline to ease as we progress through the remainder of the year and we benefit from weaker comparatives. We expect month on month volatility to continue.

"We continue to manage the cost base appropriately delivering operating efficiencies across the business and remain on track to achieve at least the £20 million targeted reduction in the underlying cost base in 2010. These management actions will ensure we are well positioned to take full advantage of the revenue and profit benefits that will result when market conditions improve."

The group also said that it expected strong cash flows that would help to cut net debt throughout the year.

By 11:01 shares in Trinity Mirror were down 11.17 per cent to 123.30 pence per share.

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