Maiden Group, the UK outdoor advertising contractor, says it has seen first half revenue growth above company expectations, despite continued challenging economic and advertising conditions.
Its first half results today showed a pre-tax loss of £1.9 million, down from the loss of £2.3 million in H1 2002, whilst group turnover rose by 6% to a record £41.4 million.
The outdoor advertising sector has continued to outpace the display market as a whole. Maiden says it is well-positioned to benefit from a recovery and has maintained its interim dividend of 2p to reflect this confidence.
The group says that sales demand is strengthening, with 100% of last year’s revenues already booked so far in the current year, although rates remain under pressure.
Outdoor industry advertising revenues have grown an estimated 11% in H1 2003, although there has been an underlying volatility between quarters, notes Maiden. The first quarter jumped 17%, whilst Q2 was up by just 6%.
It should also be noted that there have been some adjustments to the industry figures to eliminate historic under-reporting of smaller and non-members of the Outdoor Advertising Association. This will also affect figures for the rest of 2003, to the apparent detriment of the large established industry players, with figures showing greater comparability next year.
Commenting on the results and outlook, Maiden’s chief executive Ron Zeghibe said: “Despite challenging economic and advertising conditions, revenue growth has been above our previous expectations. Sales visibility is improving and there are early signs that demand is strengthening, but margin pressure has continued and it is still too early to suggest a full recovery.”
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