Lads mag slump clobbers Emap

Magazine and radio group Emap, which recently parted company with chief executive Tom Moloney ‘by mutual agreement’, has reported a 13 per cent slump in profits for the year to 1 April to £193 million, on the back of burgeoning competition and weak sales, especially in the men’s magazine sector.

The FTSE 250-quoted publisher has been battling in tough markets in 2007 and has had to carry out job cuts as it looks to save £20 million by 2008/09, although management denies rumours that private equity bids have been received.

Sales surrendered one per cent to £1 billion in the year to 1 April as digital competition heated up, although Emap enjoyed good growth in its business-to-business information products, at some radio stations and with women’s weekly titles. Remaining areas of weakness were men’s and automotive titles. Well-known Emap brands include radio stations Kiss and Magic, as well as magazines such as FHM, Empire and Heat, and a slew of business titles.

Meanwhile on AIM, The Local Radio Company (TLRC) reported reduced interim losses of £1.38 million (£1.99 million) for the half to March, on lower group turnover of £8.7 million (£9.3 million). TLRC, a £13 million business led by chief executive Richard Wheatly, operates 27 local radio stations including Macclesfield’s Silk FM and Alpha FM in Darlington, and reaches 907,000 listeners each week. While the business is another operating in challenging markets – with the market for radio advertising in serious decline – management has detected an improvement in performance since the half-year and argues the business is ‘now well placed to return to profitability’ as a result of actions taken.