Trinity Mirror sets aside another £7.5m for hacking scandal

Trinity Mirror has set aside an extra £7.5m to settle phone-hacking allegations, and announced it has signed a five-year contract to print the Guardian.

The owner of the Daily Mirror has now earmarked £60m in total to cover costs related to the phone-hacking scandal.

Trinity Mirror also said like-for-like group revenues were set to fall 9% in the 26 weeks to 2 July.

Falls in circulation and advertising have forced it to cut costs.

Revenues from print advertising fell by 21% over the period, while circulation revenues dropped 6%.

Chief executive Simon Fox said: "The trading environment for print in the first half remained volatile but we remain on course to meet our expectations for the year.

"I anticipate that the second half will show improving revenue momentum as we benefit from initiatives implemented during the first half of the year."

Trinity said it had settled over 80% of the phone-hacking claims made against it, but more funds were needed because of "the lengthy process of settling claims and the structure and quantum of legal fees for the claimants".

The group also revealed it had signed a five-year print and distribution deal for the Guardian and Observer newspapers from early 2018.

Earlier this month, Guardian Media Group said the Guardian and the Observer would switch to a tabloid format in early 2018.