Highbury To Close Titles As 2004 Proves Unsuccessful

Magazine publisher Highbury House has indicated that a number of the magazines in its portfolio will face closure or consolidation next year as the company seeks to cut costs and recoup some of the revenue which evaded it during 2004.

Delivering an update to investors on the company’s ongoing strategic review, the publisher outlined the cost cutting measures that have already been put into place, such as the sale of its freehold property in Islington, and predicted several more changes to streamline its operations over the coming months.

According to the statement, the group intends to focus more on its UK newsstand consumer operations, but will also maintain its position in the USA and South African consumer magazine markets. The publisher stated that a title-by-title review had led to the closure of some magazines already this year, and that some smaller, non-core, titles may be closed or merged during 2005 to deliver a more focused portfolio.

The company stated that, since delivering its interim statement, trading had been “softer than anticipated in Q3” and was “particularly disappointing in Q4” with the group’s general lifestyle and home interest markets bearing the brunt of the trading downturn.

The company’s poor trading was blamed partly on difficult copy sales across the board in the UK’s monthly magazine market, but Highbury has pledged to install a more consistent promotion plan to reduce copy sale volatility next year. The group’s advertising revenues have also been lower than forecast across many markets, however, Highbury is currently over-hauling its sales operations in order to counter the trend in 2005.

The downbeat trading update follows an announcement by the publisher in September in which it revealed it would fail to meet expectations for 2004, resulting in there being no interim or final dividend (see

Highbury House Unable To Meet Full-Year Expectations

Highbury House Unable To Meet Full-Year Expectations www.hhc.co.uk

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