Sales analysis - January

The death of Princess Margaret at the weekend ensured a solemn mood in most newspapers, but not solemn enough to muffle a self-congratulatory note about January's circulation figures. Not always with good reason. Of course, almost every national daily and Sunday recorded increases over December - but that is the worst month of the year for newspaper sales.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express told its readers: "In January, we sold 12,500 more copies than in the same month last year, overshadowing the Daily Mail." This was a liberal interpretation of the word "overshadowing", given that the Daily Mail's six-monthly year-on-year results show an increase of 3.83 per cent, compared with the Daily Express's drop by 6.21 per cent.

Of the broadsheets, The Guardian performed strongly and is up year-on-year by 4.65 per cent. Over on the Sundays, the story was similar: for the first time in many months (not including September, following the attack on New York), both the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People showed substantial gains on the previous month, but year-on-year the news was much bleaker. The News of World is back over four million, thanks largely to its Prince Harry exclusive.

No one should get too excited. January saw a return to vigorous marketing, attractive give-aways and expensive promotion. Getting the engines started is one thing, keeping them firing on all cylinders is another.