Reed International and Elsevier NV chairman, Morris Tabaksblat, this morning told the Reed Elsevier AGM that trading conditions have changed very little since the group released its financial results in February (see Reed Delivers Strong Results And Reaffirms Growth Expectations For 2002). Tabaksblat reiterated the double-digit earnings and revenue market-outperformance targets for the Anglo-Dutch publishing group.
The Science & Medical business continues to perform well and is on course for another good year, as is Legal publishing. In the Business division, however, ‘advertising markets remain difficult with no marked deterioration and no signs of any real recovery,’ according to Reed Elsevier. Accordingly, the group is to focus on improving market share and cost savings in this area.
Reed says that the overall results for the first half of 2002 are likely to be a little lower than last year due to comparison against a strong first half in 2001 in the Business division.
