Brokers viewed the latest quarterly financial results from media company Daily Mail & General Trust as positive, pointing to strong momentum in the group's B2B businesses and cost savings in dmg media.

Steve Liechti, an analyst at Investec, retained his "buy" rating and held his price target unchanged at 665p. Commenting on the decline in DMG's circulation revenue - which was down 6% - he said: "Circulation is lower than we thought in the first quarter with like-for-like values down 6% but the new price rise offsets this - up 5p for dailies- and reflects confidence in production."

Meanwhile, a three-strong team of research analysts at Credit Suisse presented an "outperform" rating and a target price of 700p (up from 500p on 'methodology' changes). The analysts described the first quarter results as "in line but encouraging" with B2B strength off-setting consumer weakness. They reported that they expected the structural decline in print advertising to continue in 2013 but said it would likely be moderated by a cyclical tail wind. "If display advertising was +5ppts better, this could add over 5% to fiscal year 2013 expected earnings per share."

FM

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