Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 3177G

Centaur Media PLC

11 May 2011

 



11^th May 2011

Centaur Media plc ('Centaur' or 'the Group')

Interim Management Statement

Centaur Media plc (LSE:CAU), the specialist business publishing and information Group, today issues an interim management statement for the period from 24^th February 2011 to the date of this announcement.

General Trading

In our Interim Report on 24^th February, we reported that the Group continued to trade in line with expectations.  This progress has continued, with trading conditions across our markets remaining broadly unchanged.

In the four months to 30th April 2011, advertising revenues grew 10%, compared to 17% growth in the first six months of the financial year, reflecting stronger comparatives.  Growth was again led by digital advertising revenues which were 26% ahead in the four months, whilst print advertising grew 4% in the same period. 

We have seen further steady growth in events in the period, with revenues 4% ahead of last year for the four months to 30^th April 2011.   Our two largest exhibitions ran in the period - Business Travel Show and National Homebuilding & Renovating - and delivered aggregate 8% revenue growth despite continuing challenges in their respective markets. 

Perfect Information (the digital information provider to the corporate advisory sector) has also continued to generate steady growth, with revenues a further 6% ahead in the four months to 30^th April 2011, compared to 8% growth in the first half.

Strategy

We remain committed to our medium term strategy of growing and reshaping the Group with particular emphasis on:

§ increasing our digital revenues to 50% (FY10: 26%),

§ expanding our share of paid content revenues from last year's 21% to a third,

§ building our events business to develop a portfolio of international brands and

§ increasing our share of revenues derived from international revenues to 25%.

Acquisition

We announced the acquisition of the expatriate relocation information and events business, Forum for Executive Management Ltd (FEM), on 6^th April.  In its first month of trading under Centaur ownership, FEM is performing well.  The business is now integrated within the specialist HR portfolio in Centaur's business services division and trading is in line with expectations. The acquisition of FEM was a small but important contributor to the strategic objectives outlined above and future investments in acquisitions and product development will continue this focus.

Cashflow and balance sheet

Cashflow in the first four months of the year has been stronger than anticipated and we expect to be in a net cash position at 30th June 2011, after payment of circa £2m in respect of the acquisition of FEM.

Outlook 

The outlook for the remaining two months of this financial year is positive and the Board believes the Group will trade in line with its expectations for the current financial year.  

Enquiries:

Centaur Media plc                   Tel: [phone]
Geoff Wilmot, CEO; Mike Lally, GFD

Kreab Gavin Anderson            Tel: [phone]
Robert Speed; Anthony Hughes; Janine Brewis

 

END

 

 

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