Daily Mail says year starts well

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Revenue in its Associated Newspapers division for the 13 weeks to December 30 rose 2 percent to 250 million pounds, it said ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.

"It is too early to predict the outcome of the full year, but we are pleased with the start the group has made to the financial year," said the company, which publishes the Daily Mail and Evening Standard as well as free newspapers Metro and London Lite.

DMGT said circulation revenue in the Associated Newspapers unit was in line with the same period last year with total advertising revenue in the first quarter up by four percent. It added that its print advertising rose by 4 percent, with display up 5 percent and classified down 9 percent. The largest display category was retail, which posted 8 percent growth.

"These trends have broadly continued into January," DMGT said.

Net debt at the end of December was around 1 billion pounds.

The company has six core divisions including its regional newspapers under Northcliffe Media and DMG World Media, which handles exhibitions and conferences. DMGT is also the majority shareholder in financial media company Euromoney Institutional Investor.

DMGT shares closed at 488.50 pence on Tuesday. Although the shares have outpaced the FTSE media sector .FTASX5550 by around 10 percent since the start of the year, they have underperformed the index by around 25 percent over the past 12 months.

(Reporting by Gavin Haycock; editing by Anshuman Daga)