Centaur Media revenues down 24% in H2

Centaur Media, publisher of New Media Age and Marketing Week, has reported a 24% year on year fall in revenue for the second half of 2009.

Revenue for the period was £23.9 million, down from £31.5 million in the first half of 2009. Centaur made a pre-tax loss of £1.7 million in H2.

Print revenue was down from £16.4 million in H2 2008 to £11.8 million in H2 2009, with online revenue down £1 million to £6.9 million in the final six months of 2009.

The company’s events division saw a 27% year on year decline in revenue in the second half, to £4.8 million.

Geoff Wilmot, Centaur Media CEO, said: “While we report a further revenue reduction for the period the trend towards improved trading conditions has continued with positive signs of stabilisation across the group.

“This stabilisation has continued during January and February 2010 with some areas of the group reporting year on year growth in those months. As a result of this increasing confidence in trading conditions the board has declared a 20% increase in interim dividend to 0.6p”