The second-half bias to the revenues of business publisher and events specialist Centaur Media's (CAU) limits the significance of its interim results. Management has a reasonable expectation that full-year forecasts will be met, but the industry-wide phenomenon of falling advertising revenues, and the long-term decline of print-based circulation, means conditions are tough for the publisher.
In Centaur's case, strip out the effect of acquisitions and overall sales fell by 3 per cent during the half. Print revenue was the biggest faller with a 14 per cent drop and digital revenues were broadly flat, though sales from staging events offset some of the pressure with a 12 per cent increase. At the same time, profitability was maintained by cutting costs - Centaur took a £1.2m charge to cover restructuring, as well as making publications like The Engineer digitial-only. As a result, cash profits increased by 81 per cent to £2.9m, with margins boosted from 6 per cent to 10 per cent. Chief executive Geoff Wilmot said the company is trying to build up its subscription base by expanding the business information division and saving money by centralising many marketing and subbing functions.
Analysts are talking downgrades and Peel Hunt looks set to trim its forecasts by about 5 per cent to give pre-tax profit for 2013 of £11m and EPS of 5.6p (2011:£8m/4.1p)
CENTAUR MEDIA (CAU) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 58p | MARKET VALUE: | £82.8m | |
| TOUCH: | 57-60p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 60p | LOW: 27.5p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.0% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 82p* | NET DEBT: | 21% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 26.6 | -1.5 | -0.9 | 0.75 |
| 2012 | 30.4 | -5.0 | -3.1 | 0.82 |
| % change | +14 | - | - | +9 |
Ex-div: 6 Mar Payment: 12 Apr *Includes intangible assets of £160m, or 112p a share | ||||
