Trinity Mirror shake-up leaves 550 facing axe

The company has also put its Northern Ireland newspaper division, which includes the Belfast News Letter and Derry Journal, up for sale.

The group made the announcements as it reported �80.4m ($130m) profits in the first six months of the year, up from �78.4m a year earlier.

Trinity Mirror publishes national newspapers including Daily Mirror and the Scottish Daily Record and about 260 regional titles.

Shake-up

There had been speculation Trinity Mirror would sell off its national titles, or demerge its regional division.

The underperforming Sunday People had been thought to be particularly vulnerable.

Chief executive Sly Bailey, who was brought in earlier this year from magazines giant IPC to turn the group around, said both divisions were safe.

But she promised editorial changes across the nationals, which, she said, had "suffered from a lack of firm management focus and market understanding".

She also backed the Daily Mirror's recent move back towards a more traditional tabloid agenda, after editor Piers Morgan's experiment with more serious news.

"The editorial tone of the Daily Mirror has evolved with the clear pursuit of seriously good popular journalism rather than just 'serious news'," she said.

'Hidden potential'

She announced a three-phase plan to stabilise, revitalise and grow Trinity Mirror's business.

"Significant" savings would be made in all areas, she said, with finance, human resources and IT coming under the microscope first.

The group said it aimed to achieve annual cost savings of �25m by 2005.

"My vision for Trinity Mirror is to unlock its hidden potential for growth," Ms Bailey said.

"The actions I am putting in place will transform our business so that its value as a whole is undeniably more than the sum of the parts."