Trinity Mirror said yesterday that it was ready to enter mergers with other regional newspaper publishers if competition rules are changed. The company is hoping a consultation being launched next month by the Office of Fair Trading will accept that regional newspaper titles are no longer self-contained – a factor that has effectively blocked consolidation in the sector.

Sly Bailey, chief executive, said that if this provision was removed Trinity Mirror – whose local titles include The Birmingham Post and the Liverpool Echo – could potentially merge that part of its business with other regional newspaper publishers.

She told The Times: “We absolutely believe that there are grounds for further regional press consolidation. The old concerns about dominant market position do not apply. Advertisers do not see it that way – the regulator is the only one left who still sees markets in that way. There is an urgent need to change the way regional newspaper mergers are considered.”

Trinity Mirror, owner of the Daily Mirror, Daily Record and The People, reported a full-year pretax loss of £73.5 million, compared with pretax profits last time of £21 million.

The company, whose net debts rose during 2008 by £100.2 million to £348.7 million, axed its final dividend and said that it did not envisage making payouts until the trading environment improved. Trinity Mirror, whose shares have lost 89 per cent of their value during the past year, admitted that 2009 was likely to be even tougher than 2008.

Advertising revenues – which the company said fell by about 30 per cent during the first two months of the year compared with the same period last year – were expected to decline throughout 2009. However, Ms Bailey emphasised that 51 per cent of Trinity Mirror’s sales now came from areas other than advertising.

The publisher admitted that it would incur a “double digit” rise in newsprint prices.

Contrary to City speculation, Ms Bailey insisted that the company had not sought to sell its pension scheme – regarded as an obstacle to a potential takeover bid – to a third-party operator. The deficit in the scheme ballooned during the year from £124.8 million to £206.9 million because of falling stock markets and a change in mortality assumptions.

More than 800 jobs were shed during 2008, a figure expected to rise to 1,200 this year. Cost-saving measures would include a pay freeze and a recruitment ban for all but “critical” positions. Ms Bailey said that the company would not shy away from closing loss-making titles if necessary.

Annual sales by businesses being retained by Trinity Mirror fell almost 7 per cent in the year to £871.7 million. Sales in the group’s regionals division were down by 11 per cent, while those by its national titles were down 2.4 per cent. The shares fell by 5p to 35¼p.

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