Centaur encouraged by 10% digital revenue rise

The Lawyer and Marketing Week publisher Centaur Media has reported a 10 per cent rise in digital revenue in the second half of 2011, as the group turns its attention away from print towards events and online.

The company reported revenues of £26.6m in the six months to the end of December - up four per cent on a like-for-like basis.

Revenue from digital products in the same period grew by 10 per cent year on year and now represents a third of the group's total turnover - while revenue from print was flat.

The group's marketing and creative titles, including Marketing Week and Creative Review, suffered a seven per cent decline in revenue because of a lack of recruitment advertising.

Financial titles fared better, with Mortgage Strategy reporting "strong growth". Centaur said forward booking for advertising across its business publishing division was up nine per cent on the same period last year.

Chief executive Geoff Wilmot said in today's earnings release: "The structural changes we introduced in the first half have enabled Centaur to deliver an encouraging performance in a challenging economic environment.

"Our restructuring programme has led to a re-balancing of revenues in favour of digital and events and we have made good progress in our investment in new products and bolt-on acquisitions.

"The second half of the year traditionally accounts for the majority of our earnings, and we anticipate trading in line with our expectations for the current financial year."

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