The Daily Mail group, which is expected to publish a new freesheet newspaper for Dublin in the coming days, has reported weaker advertising revenues in the 11 months to the end of August at its two flagship titles.

Revenues from display advertising at the Daily Mail slipped by 2.5 per cent during the period, while the Mail on Sunday was down 1.3 per cent. The company owns Ireland on Sunday in the Republic, but did not disclose its performance.

The company is expected to introduce its freesheet, Metro, in the coming days into the Dublin market, but yesterday it refused to comment on its plans.

Despite the lower revenues at its two flagship titles, the company's overall advertising revenues increased by 1.7 per cent. Among the best performers was Metro, which managed a 19 per cent increase in display advertising. Metro's distribution in the UK exceeds one million copies a day.

The group said that it would continue its long-standing strategy of reducing its dependence on "traditional UK advertising markets" and expected a satisfactory trading performance for the full year to October 2nd.

The company warned that its regional business, Northcliffe Newspapers, was experiencing challenging trading conditions.

Rivals Independent News and Media (IN&M) reports its half-year results today and is expected to post an 11 per cent profit rise, based on strong cost control and advertising revenue growth.

However, analysts said the "key uncertainty" facing the company was whether the Daily Mail group would publish a Metro for Ireland over the next week or not. Analysts also wondered whether IN&M would respond to any Metro product.

"The impact these new additions will have on investment returns in the Irish newspaper market in both the near longer term remains unclear," said Goodbody analyst Neil Clifford.