Johnston Press PLC Share News (JPR)

The share price of local newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror has risen 248% since Singer Capital Markets advised its clients to buy the stock back in February, but the broker believes the shares are still worth buying as the publisher embarks on the next phase of its recovery.'Stabilising revenues and a clearer picture on cash generation/debt reduction should continue to drive TNI [Trinity Mirror] near term,' reckons Jonathan Barrett of Singer Capital Markets. The broker has lifted its price target from 92p to 218p.Recent results from sector peer Johnston Press allayed some fears about the health of the advertising market in regional newspapers while 'at the revenue level nationals [national daily newspapers] are trading better.''On costs, TNI is likely to exceed the savings we assumed at the start of the year (these assumptions were at the low end of our potential assessment range). We therefore raise our structural costs savings estimate to £45m, from £40m, £10m ahead of TNI's official £35m updated guidance (this equates to £75m total cost reduction vs guidance of £65m),' Singer predicts. 'For 2010 we have lifted our savings estimate to £25m vs £20m previously as 2009 actions will annualise and, as flagged in our recent JPR [Johnston Press] note, paper costs are likely to fall,' the broker added.Singer reckons advertising revenues will start to grow 'or look like they will grow again' in the coming 12 months, prompting a sharp re-rating 'and we see scope to the 15x to 20x level implying a valuation of 444p to 592p per share.'