Magazine publisher, Highbury House Communications has announced the proposed sale of its business publishing operations, BCom, to Ergo Science Corporation for gross profits of £12.5 million. This will put the Group on track to achieve its stated strategy of reducing indebtedness and focusing on its consumer newsstand business. It is estimated that net proceeds are… Continue reading Highbury Sells Business Publishing Arm

Paris based advertising group, Havas has released a positive trading update for 2004, revealing that the company has increased organic revenue growth by 2% to €1,494 million, thanks to a positive quarter four which saw revenue increase by 4.6%, compared to the same period in 2003 (see Havas Organic Revenue Spurred On By Europe). All… Continue reading Strong Q4 Boosts Havas 2004 Revenue

Local digital directional advertising is predicted to increase revenues globally to $10.9 billion by 2009, with the US share of this market estimated to reach $5.1 billion, according to recent research published by strategic research analysts, The Kelsey Group. The Kelsey Group defines ‘directional media’ as advertising that is delivered to potential buyers when they… Continue reading Local Digital Directional Advertising To Make $10.9 Billion By 2009

The marketing profession remains broadly optimistic about the future economy, supporting the widely held view that the expected slowdown in 2005 will represent a change of gear rather than a recession, according to the latest survey results from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). The study, based on the views of 500 senior marketing professionals… Continue reading Little Sign Of Recession, Says CIM Study

The compact revolution within the newspaper industry has not had the success that publishers had hoped for, with misleading increases in circulation figures disguising the sector’s increasing struggle with advertisers, according to a new paper published by The McKinsey Quarterly. The rise of the internet and subsequent influx of online news sites has resulted in… Continue reading Tabloid Format May Not Deliver Success

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertisers (IPA) has launched a Valentines message board raising money for NABS, the charity for the marketing communications industry, providing support for anyone working in advertising, design direct marketing, media planning, buying and sales, public relations and sales promotion.Media folk can post a message on the IPA website for £5.00… Continue reading IPA And NABS Gear Up For Valentines

Internet provider AOL is the latest British internet service provider (ISP) to double the speed of its broadband products without charging online customers more. The following six months will see the company rolling out the upgrade to its 750,000(ish) UK broadband users.The increase of speed in the online technology coincides with AOL UK’s new distribution… Continue reading AOL To Double Broadband Speed At No Extra Cost

International media group, Pearson’s flagship publication, The Financial Times has announced that it will launch its annual Lunch with The FT promotion this Saturday, 12 February.The national promotion, sponsored by British Airways, involves 150 ‘hand-picked high quality restaurants offering special lunches for £12.50 or £15 and is part of a special 16 page colour food… Continue reading Financial Times Launches Lunch Promotion

Confidence in the European media industry looks set to continue this year, indicating that the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) arena will be worth watching in 2005, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report released yesterday. PwC, the audit and corporate finance group, is anticipating in excess of 110 transactions in 2005,compared to the number of deals… Continue reading Confidence In European Media To Fuel M&A

The Advertising Association’s (AA) forecasting skills have today been criticised by IPC Media, warning that the industry body’s advertising expenditure predictions could be misleading. Questioning the Association’s ability to make accurate forecasts, in a letter written to Media Week, Christina Hartley, IPC’s group ad marketing director, says: “The latest 2005 figure for the sector [consumer… Continue reading AA Forecasting Criticised By IPC