Daily Mail & General Trust, the publisher Daily Mail newspaper, announced that its operating profit for the first half of the fiscal grew 20%, beating the expectations of the market analysts. The group said that the excellent first half results were mainly attributable to the improving advertising trends, cost cuts and a solid business to business performance during the period under consideration.

Daily Mail & General Trust released its results for the first six months of the fiscal ended April 4, 2010. DMGT said that underlying operating profit was reported of £144 million, increasing by 20% while it was reported of £120 million in the same period last year.

The first half operating profit beat the expectations of the market analysts as they were estimating operating profit of £142 million for the period. Earnings before tax and exceptional items were reported of £110 million in the first half of the fiscal, increasing by 42% while it was reported of £77.5 million in the same period last year.

aTotal revenue in the first six months of the fiscal was reported of £974 million, decreasing by 10% compared to £885.5 million in the same period last year. First half like for like sales were reported down by 3% on an underlying basis. Total first half revenue came in line with the market expectations of £982 million for the period.