"Four of our directors, including myself, bought shares today, because Mecom shares offer extremely good value for money at the moment," said Mecom boss David Montgomery when I spoke to him yesterday evening (for this and this story, in Norwegian).

Montgomery and three of his non-executive directors had then bought Mecom shares for about £400,000, on a day where the market had seen the biggest intra-day drop in the share price since Mecom came to the London market in March, 2005. Mecom's share price plummeted after several brokers slashed their 2008 forecasts to take account of margin pressures and higher interest and depreciation charges.

Still, a seemingly relaxed Montgomery, who'd just got off an airplane, insisted: "Our confidence in the approach is undiluted". "The diminished share value is not justified in a rational market," he said, and blamed a jittery market for the falling share price.

The former Mirror boss turned European newspaper mogul did however admit that he was very aware Mecom's credibility was at a low point, and that the company now had to prove it could successfully implement the changes necessary to deliver the results Mecom has promised its investors.

According to both Financial Times and Bloomberg, there was growing evidence of unrest among those investors yesterday, after Mecom failed to include much of what was described as "the information leading to the downgrades, including the fact that Mecom would have to divest a Dutch newspaper" in a trading statement issued early Tuesday morning.

The Daily Mail even warned "Montgomery could get in trouble with City watchdogs after Mecom's botched profits warning" (I couldn't find a direct link here). The trading statement also spoke of further cost cuts, which is bound to cause unrest among Mecom journalists, many of whom will also be worried about what impact the current turbulence in the financial markets will have on a highly geared company such as Mecom.

So it may be a rocky ride ahead for the young pan-European media empire, but Montgomery promised yesterday we would learn more about just how Mecom plans to make its newspaper assets more profitable when the company releases its full-year results in March.

Update 2:55pm: As Rob correctly points out in the comments, the "Dutch Newspaper" is indeed De Trompetter, which the Dutch competition authorities, Nma, required Mecom to sell in order to approve the Wegener-acquistion. In other words, old news for those who've followed the story. Mecom has issued a clarification of Tuesday's trading statement here.

Update 10/01: FT reports that Mecom's clarification failed to quell investors unrest, and says some of Mecom's shareholders are critical to whether Mecom's finance director Keith Allen can continue in his job after messing up such a crucial communication issue.