Sun cuts cover price amid newspaper downturn

LONDON (Reuters) - The best-selling Sun will cut its cover price to 30 pence from 35 pence in all regions of the UK from Monday, owner News International said, as newspapers struggle with a steep drop in ad sales.

The move by News International, the UK subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., will make the Sun 10 pence cheaper than nearest rival the Daily Mirror, 20 pence cheaper than the Daily Mail and 5 pence cheaper than the Daily Star.

"At a time when many companies, including our competitors, are constantly cutting costs to the detriment of their product, we are constantly looking to improve our product," Sun Marketing Director Roland Agambar said in a statement.

Daily Mirror owner Trinity Mirror said this week it would cut an extra 20 million pounds in costs by 2009 in the face of an accelerating decline in advertising revenues, after a profit warning last month.

"We have not and we will not reduce our cover prices," Chief Executive Sly Bailey told journalists on a conference call.

Regional newspaper group Johnston Press, which will report interim results later this month, announced a rights issue in May to prevent it breaching debt covenants.

The Sun said its price cut would affect 2.5 million copies of the newspaper currently selling for 35 pence in Scotland and parts of England.

The Sun's circulation is about 3 million, according to industry association ABC, compared with 1.4 million for the Daily Mirror and 700,000 for the Daily Star.

The Sun said its circulation had been growing year-on-year for the past six months, and said it would continue to invest in its products.