Centaur Media, the company behind the likes of Marketing Week and Money Marketing, has recorded a pre-tax loss of £30.3m in its year-end results, including redundancy costs of £2.5m.
The company, which claimed the results were “encouraging”, said the loss includes a “non-cash” impairment charge of £32.2m, in relation to assets sold or closed, as well as exceptional charges related to the restructure. Centaur recorded a £2.6m profit in 2010.
In June, the publisher axed the print editions of Design Week and New Media Age, with both going online-only. As a result of this shake-up, the company’s headcount was cut by about 10% with the axe falling on many senior people, including Design Week publisher Declan Gough, editor Lynda Relph Knight, NMA publisher Andy Oakes, editor in chief Mike Nutley, Pitch editor Sonoo Singh and editorial consultant Stuart Smith.
“The restructuring initiatives, while having a material impact on the reported statutory results, do not impact the underlying trading performance of the group,” Centaur said in its report.
Its adjusted results show a 63 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits of £2.5m, from £4m in 2009/10 to £6.5m in 2010/11. Centaur also recorded a revenue increase from £59.9m to £68.3m, a rise of 14 per cent.
Digital now accounts for 26 per cent of Centaur’s total revenues, with advertising revenues in this sector up 19 per cent, the report added.
“This is an encouraging set of results with adjusted profits, earnings and cash generation all significantly improved,” said chief executive Geoff Wilmot. “The 18% increase in the dividend is both a recognition of these results and a signal of our confidence that we now have in place a stronger platform for growth.”
According to insiders, the company is also planning to move out of its Poland Street HQ in Soho, where it has been since launch over 35 years ago. It is not known how the move will affect its other office, in Wells Street, which was recently the subject of a major refurbishment.
Earlier this year, Data Strategy editor David Reed quit the title, just six months after the standalone magazine was folded into Marketing Week, and there is continuing speculation about the future of the brand.
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