Fusion Corporate Partners

Newspaper publisher Mecom beat market expectations to report pre-tax profits of €29.5m (£24.6m) in the first six months of the year. Highlights from Interim Results Statement are below:

• Adjusted EBITDA of €70.1 million (2009: €47.4m) up 48%
• Circulation revenue of €280 million (2009: €275.1m) up 2 per cent
• Advertising revenue of €334.7 (2009: €346.5m) down 3 per cent
• Operating costs of €638.2 (2009: 677.4) reduced by 6 per cent
• Adjusted earnings per share of 14.8 euro cents (2009: loss of 71.5 euro cents)
• Net debt of €354.9 million (30th June 2009: €443.8m; 31st December 2009: €373.4m)
• Gearing (net debt / adjusted EBITDA) reduced to less than 2.5 times
• Good progress towards achieving 2012 targets set in March 2010

Alasdair Locke, Chairman, said:

‘This set of interim results continues the good progress made in the second half of 2009 and emphasises the stability and security of these businesses.  Given continuing advertising uncertainty, the Group continues to exercise tight cost discipline while the operating model is being transformed to meet the competitive trends in the media sector.’

David Montgomery, Chief Executive, said:

‘The circulation and cost performance in these six months demonstrates the robustness of our business and its assets.  We are especially pleased with the reduced rates of attrition in subscription volumes and the related growth in revenues.  Management and staff continue to focus on extracting new revenues from the wider consumer market, particularly online.’

Location: UK, London