David Montogomery, executive chairman of pan-European newspaper publisher Mecom, has blamed a “hyper sensitive” market for the 30 per cent drop in his shares after financial data was omitted from a trading update earlier this year.

The former chief of the Mirror Group spoke as he announced the group would list on the main market on April 14.

Mecom alarmed the City in January this year when small financial details were absent from a press release, causing the shares to plunge 30 per cent in one day. The group has announced a pre-tax loss of £40 million in 2007, compared with £24 million.

“Our trading update came at a time when the market was hyper sensitive and it could be said this was overdone,” said Mr Montgomery, commenting on the recent share price fall.

Mecom said that like-for-like revenues were up 3 per cent to £1.35 billion, while operating profits were up 22 per cent, as Mr Montgomery said that listing on the main market will “improve our credibility, increase our profile and provide access to new shareholders.”

“Our businesses performed well in 2007 and the benefits of the restructuring undertaken in 2007 are starting to feed through as reflected in increased margins,” the group said in a statement

The group said it was unlikely to make any large acquisitions following three years of buying a series of newspaper assets in countries including the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Mr Mongomery insisted that he was not using the listing to raise new funds.

The group said that cost cutting was a significant part of its plans in 2007, saying it reduced its “workforce considerably both in back office and traditional print.”

Mr Montgomery is well-known for being a formidable cost-cutter, running the Mirror Group as a lean, mean business. He said that Mecom had reduced staff by 10 per cent in 2007, and he had achieved cost savings of £27 million by making mainly back office cuts and said few journalists' jobs were affected.

“Fleet Street used to employ armies of people. In our newspapers in Europe, there’s just the staff reporters and some freelance contributors,” he said, when asked why few journalists were affected in his latest cost-cutting exercise.

Mr Montgomery added that the Danish advertising market continued to come under pressure, citing a difficult property market.

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