Sport Media Group, the Aim-quoted publisher that breached its banking covenants this year, has omitted its dividend after reporting a pre-tax loss of £7.7m for the 12 months to July 31.

However, the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers, famous for salacious glamour pictures and headlines such as “World War 2 bomber found on moon”, said circulation had risen 10 per cent from its nadir in March.