Emap Sees Circulation Revenues Rise In Tough Marketplace
UK media giant Emap today released a trading statement which revealed that underlying profits for the group grew by 3% in H1 2001 largely due to increases in circulation revenue in the UK and France, but warned that advertising revenues are still falling.
In France, consumer advertising increases were driven primarily by core titles in the TV listings and automotive sectors.
Circulation revenue in the UK grew by 10% largely due to the continuing success of gossip title Heat and strong performances from other titles in the women’s glossies, music and automotive sectors.
Emap’s radio division suffered in a tough market and advertising revenues declined by 6% year on year, although the buoyancy of the radio market in 2000 makes for difficult comparisons.
Emap also announced that its digital operations would be reintegrated into the group’s off-line operations both in the UK and in France. It stated “While the Group remains committed to exploring the opportunities this new medium offers, a more value conscious approach will be taken in relation to all future digital investments. Emap does not anticipate its digital investment in the current financial year to exceed £20m.”
The group went on to forecast a further slowdown in ad revenue growth for the second half of the year and admitted difficulties in predicting the the future of the radio market in the current climate.
Comment
In difficult market conditions Emap has maintained underlying revenue growth of 3% across the group. Analysts at ABN AMRO this morning described the company as ‘robust’ citing strong magazine performances as the key to Emap’s relative resistance to market trends. The market reacted well to the announcement, the FTSE 250 was 19.6 points higher by 12.00am.
ABN AMRO: buy Credit Lyonnais: buy
By 12.00am, shares in Emap had risen by 44½p to 528½p.
