HalfYear Trading Statement

Centaur Media PLC 09 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 and information company, today issues a trading statement prior to its interim results announcement, which is scheduled for 28th February 2008. Overall trading performance review Centaur expects to report further growth in revenues and profits over the first six months of the current financial year. Group revenues over the period are anticipated 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 the same period in the prior year, reflecting a positive performance across most market sectors. This increase in revenues is led by rapid growth in online advertising. Revenues from exhibitions, conferences and other events are expected to be slightly lower than the same period in the prior year, principally as a result of the discontinuation of certain under-performing events. Also, as previously reported, the Group decided at the beginning of October 2007 to discontinue the Perfect Analysis service, which incurred losses in the comparative period. This focus on operational profitability across the Group has led to further improvement in EBITDA margins (note iii). New product development activity has continued through the period and a number of new products are currently in development, which the Board expects to underpin future growth. The Group has continued to deliver a high level of cash conversion with net cash in excess of £1 million at 31st December 2007, after using c.£7.3 million to purchase Centaur shares through an on-market share buy-back programme. As previously reported, the Group has acquired c.6.85 million Centaur shares in the market since October, in line with shareholder authority, at an average price of 107p per share. Current trading and outlook The Board believes that its strategy of building and acquiring market-leading multi-platform brands serving a broad range of niche business communities will enable the Group to make further good progress in the new financial year. Centaur's exposure to the current credit squeeze in global capital markets is limited to its leading portfolio of brands associated with the Mortgage Strategy title and this continues to be offset by growth in other markets. Overall, the current outlook across all served markets remains broadly positive for the year ahead and the Board remains confident of meeting its expectations for the Group for the year ending 30th June 2008. Enquiries: Centaur Media plc Geoff Wilmot Tel: 020 7970 4000 Mike Lally Gavin Anderson & Company Robert Speed Tel: 020 7554 1400 Charlotte Stone Notes i. Centaur's product portfolio currently includes 10 weekly or fortnightly magazines, 21 other magazines, over 20 online products or services, 25 awards or other sponsored events, 20 exhibitions and 80 conferences. ii. Centaur reports its results within 5 distinct business sector segments, namely Marketing and Creative, Legal and Financial, Engineering and Construction, Perfect Information and General Business Services. The first 3 segments comprise principally the following vertical business communities in which 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 a number of other specialist communities, namely HR, Construction, Logistics, Recruitment and Public/Private Finance. In addition, it serves the Business Travel community with 3 leading trade shows in the UK and overseas and an associated web service. iii. Centaur's key internal measure of profit is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and excluding exceptionals (EBITDA). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100