A major media organisation has today reported an increase in profits of more than 25 per cent in its annual results.

Trinity Mirror, which owns a number of national and regional newspapers including the Gloucestershire Echo, The Citizen and Stroud Life, said its adjusted operating profits had risen from £109.6million in 2015 to £137.5milion in 2016.

It follows its purchase of rival publisher Local World for £220million in 2015.

The publication of the annual report coincides with a recent round of redundancies at its Gloucestershire titles in which more journalists and sub-editors have left the business.

While its newspaper circulation figures continue to fall, Trinity Mirror said it had enjoyed continued growth in its digital audience with average monthly page views on a like-for-like basis growing by 15.4 per cent to 636.1million.

Like-for-like publishing digital revenue grew by 12.8 per cent to £78.5million, with digital display and transactional revenue growing by 24.7 per cent partially offset by digital classified revenue falling by 11.3 per cent.

The annual report states: "Our four key areas of strategic focus are to grow digital audience and revenue, to build new diversified revenue streams, to protect our strong print brands and to seek out strategic opportunities that drive value.

"The Board remains confident that our strategy will meet our objective to deliver sustainable growth in revenue, profit and cash flow over the medium term."

Commenting on the annual results, CEO Simon Fox said: "We have delivered a strong financial performance in the year despite the challenging environment we face.

"I am particularly pleased with the progress we have made in growing our digital audience and revenue, and with the work we have done this year to develop and refine our strategic priorities for the year ahead."

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