Trinity Mirror, the publisher of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, this afternoon said it was on track to reap around £600 million from the auction of The Racing Post and other regional newspapers it has put up for sale.

Chairman Sir Ian Gibson told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that the company had made “encouraging progress” in the sale of its midlands and south-eastern papers and the UK’s only gambling-focused daily.

“We’ve had a number of expressions in each of the three assets we’ve put up for sale ... and we’ve seen nothing to cause us any worry over the estimates that analysts have put into the marketplace,” Gibson told investors at the group’s annual general meeting today.

The City expects the Racing Post to fetch between £200 million and £220 million, with the Midlands and south-eastern titles forecast to be sold for a combined £400 million.

Analyst Richard Hitchcok of Numis Securities said: “North of £600 million for all the assets would be a satisfactory result.”

Like other newspaper groups, Trinity Mirror has been hard hit over recent years by declining circulation, a sharp downturn in the advertising market and the continued flight of marketing spending to the internet.

Local newspapers have been particularly hard hit and i put a batch of its regional papers and the Racing Post up for sale late last year but held back from selling its entire local paper portfolio.

Earlier in the day Trinity Mirror reported a 3 per cent like-for-like fall in its advertising revenues in the first four months of 2007 and said the advertising market remained “challenging and volatile”.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive