Maiden Sees Improving Outdoor Advertising Market
A recovery in outdoor advertising levels which began in the second half of last year has continued in 2004, according to UK outdoor contractor Maiden Group.
The company says that the year has started strongly, with record sales in the first quarter. Visibility is also improving, indicating good trading for the middle two quarters of the year. Outdoor advertising has continued to build its market share, which is expected by Maiden to close 2004 at 9%.
Despite the improving trading conditions, pre-tax profits at the company were down by 17.2% at £5.3 million. This is in line with the group’s guidance in January (see City). Turnover increased by 7.3% to £88.1 million.
“These results are in line with our pre-close statement and reflect how 2003 continued to be a challenging year for the advertising industry, particularly in the first half. Despite this, outdoor advertising continued to outperform most other display media.
“Maiden is well placed to take advantage of the upturn that now seems to have begun. Prospects for the second and third quarters are encouraging, and we are confident that both revenues and margins will show improvements this year and we look forward to the future with confidence,” said Maiden’s chief executive Ron Zeghibe.
Figures from the Advertising Association show that outdoor and transport advertising revenues grew by 10.4% in 2003 to £901 million, giving the sector a share of 5.2% of the total ad market. The AA forecasts that outdoor alone will grow by a further 7.0% this year (see UK Advertising Expected To Grow by 3.2% in 2004).
Maiden Outdoor: 020 7838 4000 www.maiden.co.uk
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