Chief executive Simon Fox’s pay package increases by nearly 20% despite slide in revenues

Trinity Mirror is to change its name to Reach following the acquisition of Richard Desmond’s Express and Star titles, as the newspaper publisher reported a slump in revenues in tough trading conditions last year.

The chief executive, Simon Fox, said the new name encapsulated the reach its newspaper titles had with readers in print and digital.

Fox’s pay packet swelled by 19% to £893,000 last year, thanks to almost £300,000 in bonuses and awards.

The Trinity Mirror name will be scrapped after almost 20 years if investors vote to approve the change at the publisher’s annual general meeting in May.

“We wanted a simple name, a Ronseal name – ‘it does what it says on the tin’ – that simply describes what we do,” Fox said.

“Trinity Mirror came about from the merger of two companies in 1999. Since then we have bought [regional newspaper publisher] Local World and [Express Newspapers owner] Northern and Shell. The old name no longer reflects the composition of the group. We felt it was necessary, out of respect for our new colleagues.”

Last week, the competition regulator issued an initial enforcement order to stop Trinity Mirror integrating Express Newspapers while it considers whether to launch a full investigation into the deal.

Fox has promised that Desmond’s Brexit-supporting titles will be kept editorially independent from his Labour-supporting Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror.

However, the company announced that it was replacing the editors of the Daily Express and Daily Star, who resigned days after Trinity Mirror shareholders voted to approve the deal.

Fox maintained that the Express and Star would “absolutely” remain independent.

“The Mirror isn’t going rightwing and the Express isn’t going leftwing,” he said. “We have put in senior, experienced editors who are going to continue to reflect the views of readers. We still have in place the editor of the Sunday Express and all of the editorial team at the Daily Express.”

Trinity Mirror reported a 12.6% fall in total revenues to £632m last year, as the newspaper publishing market continues to struggle.

Sales revenue fell by 8.3%, from £310.6m to £284.7m, as price rises helped to offset 20% circulation falls at the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. The steep falls are partly down to a decision to remove “bulk” sales – free copies that are given away in places such as train stations and gyms – from the figures.

Pre-tax profits grew slightly from £76.5m to £81.9m, thanks to a £20m cost-cutting plan that helped push up margins.

“We once again delivered a strong financial performance in what remains a difficult trading environment for the industry,” said Fox.

The publisher reported a 25% fall in newspaper print advertising last year, from £236.6m to £177.6m, while growth in digital revenue from publishing operations fell far short of target.

Digital revenue grew by 7% to £83.9m, accounting for just 13% of total revenues, missing the company’s target of 15% growth per annum. Within this, digital display and transactional revenue grew 18.2%, with the company targeting “at least” 20% growth this year.