Regional newspaper group Johnston Press, which sold its 14 titles in the Republic earlier this year, said it narrowed the revenue declines across its portfolio to 3.1 per cent in the third quarter from 4.3 per cent for the first half of the year.

The Edinburgh-based publisher, whose titles include the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Evening Post, said advertising revenues fell 3.4 per cent in the third quarter, compared to 4.6 per cent for the first six months of the year. The company attributed the narrowing of the decline to a 19.5 per cent rise in digital revenues.

Johnston said its digital audience now averages more than 27 million users per month, with traffic up 40 per cent year-on-year in September. Mobile users have doubled over the past year and are averaging 6.5 million per month.

Circulation revenues were down 4.7 per cent in the third quarter, Johnston said.

The group, which agreed in April to sell its operations in Ireland to Iconic Newspapers, returned to growth in underlying operating profit in 2013 for the first time in seven years.

Johnston Press sold the Irish titles for £7.2 million (€8.7 million) in cash, just a fraction of the sums it spent on buying the newspapers during the boom. In 2005, it spent €139 million on the Leinster Leader group of titles alone, while its total outlay in Ireland arrived at more than €200 million.

Other titles acquired as part of the Iconic Newspapers takeover included the Longford Leader, the Leitrim Observer, the Donegal Democrat, the Kilkenny People and the Limerick Leader.