Trinity Mirror considering bid for Express newspapers

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LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - British newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI.L - news) could bid for the Daily Express and Daily Star titles after it said on Tuesday that it is examining certain assets owned by Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell group.

The owner of the Daily and Sunday Mirror titles, which has overhauled its finances in recent years to stand virtually debt-free, said it is at an early stage of evaluating its options and there is no certainty an agreement will be reached.

Britain's newspaper industry has been hammered in recent years by the move online of both readers and advertisers, with the Daily Mirror recording an average circulation of 886,390 in February while the Express (NYSE: EXPR - news) was almost half that, at 448,256.

But Trinity, which also owns the Daily Record, the People and regional titles such as the Liverpool Echo and Manchester Evening News, this month reported full-year results showing that tight cost controls and growing digital sales would enable it to pay its first dividend since 2008.

The mid-market Daily Express tabloid was first published 115 years ago and for a long time outsold its fierce rival, the Daily Mail, selling about four million copies a day in the 1940s.

In recent years, however, it has failed to keep up and has cut staff and its budget to counter falling sales. It was bought by Desmond, who also sold his TV broadcaster Channel 5 last year, in 2000.

The two groups could make cost savings by printing the Express titles on Trinity's presses.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by David Goodman)