Maiden Results Show Year Of Two Halves

Outdoor advertising group, Maiden, today reported its strongest half-year results. After a difficult first half to 1999, the group improved significantly in the last six months and reported second-half operating profits before amortisation of £7.1 million.

This was £1 million higher than the group’s previous best in 1997. Chief executive Ron Zeghibe said that the turnaround in the group’s performance was still ongoing: “The strong performance in the second six months of last year has continued into the first half of the current one. Revenues in the first quarter were up 24% and we have already booked second quarter revenues in excess of those for last year.”

Profits before tax and amortisation came in at £5.1 million. This records a fall on the previous year, which saw profits of £6.5 million, but reversed a first half loss with profits of £6.1 million in the second half. Turnover was £67.2 million, a slight increase on 1998 (£65.3m).

The outdoor market is experiencing a mini-boom at the moment with an 8% revenue growth rate predicted for 2000 (see Feature: Mini-boom Predicted For Outdoor Advertising). The boom is largely generated by the influx of dotcom advertising, which accounted for around £1 million in revenues for Maiden in the final quarter of last year. The group said that it had already booked £4 million of dotcom advertising in the first half of this year and predicted the dotcom boom would account for over 10% of revenues for the year.

Maiden Group: 020 7838 4000