Shares in Daily Mail and General Trust were up in afternoon trading after the publisher reported a rise in revenue in the first quarter ended 2 January 2011.

The group said that trading was in line with its expectations and that first quarter revenue was up three per cent from the previous year to £497 million. On an underlying basis revenue rose five per cent.

DMGT said that revenues from its business to business operations were up 19 per cent in the quarter to £220 million, while consumer media revenue dropped one per cent to £277 million.

The quarter also saw GMGT cut 332 jobs, mainly in its Northcliffe Media.

At the end of the first quarter DGMT's net debt stood at £910 million, up from £862 million at the end of the previous quarter.

In January advertising revenue fell six per cent from the previous year, the group said.

Martin Morgan, Chief Executive of Daily Mail and General Trust, said, "Trading in the first quarter has been in line with our expectations, despite our consumer businesses being hampered by the poor weather in December. Overall our B2B operations are experiencing good momentum and consumer media continues to benefit from national advertising growth, though we have limited visibility. We remain cautious about the medium term outlook, given the external economic environment. Our focus will remain on investment to drive organic growth, while continuing to seek to improve operational efficiency and to reduce debt."

By 15:05 shares in Daily Mail and General Trust were up 1.84 per cent to 552.50 pence per share.