STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Newspaper publishers up on outlook

Shares in newspaper publishers Johnston Press (JPR.L), Trinity Mirror (TNI.L) and Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGOa.L) gain between 1.8 and 16.7 percent on the back of covenant news and a bullish note from UBS.

Johnston Press said late on Monday it had agreed to defer testing of covenants pending the outcome of discussions with its lenders about refinancing its existing facilities. [ID:nRnsc6927U]

UBS upgrades its recommendations for Trinity Mirror (TNI.L) and Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGOa.L), saying: "Media owners in previous downturns have seen 100 percent recovery of their cyclical revenue loss three years after the trough ... the risk to consensus estimates over 2010 to 2012 remains to the upside".

The broker ups Trinity Mirror to "buy" from "neutral" and Daily Mail to "neutral" from "sell", and lifts its earnings forecasts for Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail by around 15 to 35 percent.

Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net