Outdoor advertising specialist, Maiden Group, has announced a rise of 4.5% in turnover to £92.1 million, up from £88.1 million in 2003, reflecting the slower growth of the billboard advertising sector.
The Group’s trading statement for 2004 showed pre-tax profit before goodwill to have improved by 33% to £7 million, compared with £5.3 million in 2003 and performing in line with previous predictions (see
Maiden Up Despite Poor Performance In Billboard Advertising).
Operating profit before goodwill rose by 27% during 2004 to £9.4 million, up from £7.4 million in 2003, while operating margins increased by 10.2%, compared to 8.4% in 2003. Outdoor advertising was revealed to have reached a 9.3% share of the UK display market.
Maiden re-signed 89% of rail estate in 2004, resulting in the Group forecasting an increase in rail revenues in the coming year.
Commenting on the results, Ron Zeghibe, Maiden’s chief executive said: “The re-signing of our rail contracts was a significant achievement in the last year and reflects Maiden’s strong performance in this area of outdoor. Our retail advertising also showed healthy growth. the billboard sector remains challenging and the effect of the expected General Election is creating some short-term uncertainty in the market.”
Zeghibe continued: “Our successful recent rights issue and the operational work put in during 2004 stand us in good stead for this year and beyond. Outdoor continues to increase its share of display advertising and we’re well positioned to capitalise on this.”
Maiden are optimistic about the rest of the year, with the current market conditions predicted to remain robust for 2005. The Outdoor Advertising Association is predicting that the medium will have a 9.6% share of display advertising in the UK by the end of 2005.
In this context, 2005 started off very well for Maiden with revenues for the first quarter ahead 5% over the same period last year.
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