9th Jan 2008 07:00
Centaur Media PLC09 January 2008 9 January 2008 Centaur Media plc ("Centaur" or "the Group") HALF YEAR TRADING STATEMENT Revenues, margins and profits all ahead Strong performance under-pinned by continued organic growth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Centaur Media plc (notes i & ii), the specialist business publishing andinformation company, today issues a trading statement prior to its interimresults announcement, which is scheduled for 28th February 2008. Overall trading performance review Centaur expects to report further growth in revenues and profits over the firstsix months of the current financial year. Group revenues over the period areanticipated to be approximately 5% ahead of the same period in the prior year,leading to double digit profits growth and an improvement in margins. Total advertising revenues will have increased by around 7% compared with thesame period in the prior year, reflecting a positive performance across mostmarket sectors. This increase in revenues is led by rapid growth in onlineadvertising. Revenues from exhibitions, conferences and other events are expected to beslightly lower than the same period in the prior year, principally as a resultof the discontinuation of certain under-performing events. Also, as previouslyreported, the Group decided at the beginning of October 2007 to discontinue thePerfect Analysis service, which incurred losses in the comparative period. Thisfocus on operational profitability across the Group has led to furtherimprovement in EBITDA margins (note iii). New product development activity has continued through the period and a numberof new products are currently in development, which the Board expects tounderpin future growth. The Group has continued to deliver a high level of cash conversion with net cashin excess of £1 million at 31st December 2007, after using c.£7.3 million topurchase Centaur shares through an on-market share buy-back programme. Aspreviously reported, the Group has acquired c.6.85 million Centaur shares in themarket since October, in line with shareholder authority, at an average price of107p per share. Current trading and outlook The Board believes that its strategy of building and acquiring market-leadingmulti-platform brands serving a broad range of niche business communities willenable the Group to make further good progress in the new financial year.Centaur's exposure to the current credit squeeze in global capital markets islimited to its leading portfolio of brands associated with the Mortgage Strategytitle and this continues to be offset by growth in other markets. Overall, the current outlook across all served markets remains broadly positivefor the year ahead and the Board remains confident of meeting its expectationsfor the Group for the year ending 30th June 2008. Enquiries: Centaur Media plc Geoff Wilmot Tel: 020 7970 4000 Mike LallyGavin Anderson & Company Robert Speed Tel: 020 7554 1400 Charlotte Stone Notes i. Centaur's product portfolio currently includes 10 weeklyor fortnightly magazines, 21 other magazines, over 20 online products orservices, 25 awards or other sponsored events, 20 exhibitions and 80conferences. ii. Centaur reports its results within 5 distinct businesssector segments, namely Marketing and Creative, Legal and Financial, Engineeringand Construction, Perfect Information and General Business Services. The first 3segments comprise principally the following vertical business communities inwhich Centaur publishes market-leading magazine titles: Marketing Services,Creative Services, New Media, Retail Financial Products, Legal Services,Engineering, Private Homebuilding. Centaur also enjoys strong positions in anumber of other specialist communities, namely HR, Construction, Logistics,Recruitment and Public/Private Finance. In addition, it serves the BusinessTravel community with 3 leading trade shows in the UK and overseas and anassociated web service. iii. Centaur's key internal measure of profit is earningsbefore interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and excluding exceptionals(EBITDA). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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