Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said yesterday that it had halved the rate of decline in advertising revenue at its flagship national newspaper in September, a fillip that suggests the industry could start to recover in the new year.

Peter Williams, finance director at DMGT, said that advertising bookings for September were down “10 to 12 per cent” at the Daily Mail and its sister Metro title, compared with a 21 per cent fall in July and August.

Although Mr Williams “refused to call the bottom, in case it turns out we are on a ledge”, he said that the Daily Mail would return to growth in the new year, once tougher comparisons were out of the way.

“The run-up to Christmas was very strong last year, so we expect to be down quite a fair way in our first quarter [October to December], but we should hopefully be up in the next year [2010],” he said, as the company released a trading update before its year-end on October 4.

Overall advertising revenues at Associated Newspapers, which includes Metro and the London Lite, the free London newspapers, as well as the Daily Mail, were down 11 per cent in the 11 months to the end of August, with circulation income down 2 per cent. There was no detail on how the loss-making London Lite was faring since thelondonpaper, its competitor, shut down. Mr Williams said: “It’s only been a matter of days and it’s far too early to tell.” Thelondonpaper, published by News International, the parent company of The Times, closed after its owners concluded that it could not be made profitable within an acceptable timeframe.

DMGT’s regional newspaper stable continued to fare worse than its national titles, with advertising revenues plunging 31 per cent in the 11 months to August.

DMGT shares rose 20.4p to 460.8p. City analysts were expected to push up consensus expectations for pre-exceptional profits, before any charges, from £180 million to £185 million for the full year. DMGT will take a £100 million charge in the year, reflecting 1,500 job cuts from a 17,000-strong workforce.

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