Centaur Media swings to losses in year of transformation

Business information and specialist consultancy provider Centaur Media issues its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December on Wednesday, reporting a 9% improvement in group revenue year-on-year to £70.5m, although on an underlying basis, revenue declined 1.6%.

The London-listed firm said that result reflected a full-year of revenue contribution from its MarketMakers acquisition, as well as increased revenues from brands including The Lawyer, Marketing Week, MW Mini MBA, and The Meeting Show.

Non-advertising revenues now made up 82% of total revenues, rising from 79% year-on-year, while recurring revenues had grown to 48% from 44%.

Underlying adjusted operating profits increased 18% to £5.2m, of which the company’s marketing segment achieved £1.7m in a transitional year, remaining stable from the £1.7m reported a year earlier.

The financial services segment’s adjusted operating profit strengthened to £1.2m from £0.6m, and professional services, including ‘The Lawyer’, increased by 28% to £2.3m.

On a statutory basis, Centaur’s operating loss widened to £14.0m from £0.3m, while its statutory loss grew to £14.2m from £0.7m year-on-year after a goodwill impairment of £13.1m.

That was primarily related to the strategic rationalisation of certain events and revenue streams to be discontinued within the marketing portfolio, the board explained.

The group had net cash of £0.1m at 31 December, down from £4.1m, after making an earn out payment of £1.8m for MarketMakers, and paying dividends of £4.3m.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share were 2.6p, down from 3.2p year-on-year, while the firm swung to a diluted loss per share of 9.9p from earnings of 14.3p.

The board proposed a final dividend of 1.5p, contributing to a total for the year of 3.0p, which was in line with the previous year.

Centaur Media said its future distribution policy would be subject to the progress of the simplification strategy.

“We are pleased to have made good strategic progress this year, to have increased adjusted operating profits and to have accelerated the simplification of the group's structure,” said chief executive Andria Vidler.

“This will create a more efficient and focused business with a higher margin.

“XEIM, the new name for the group's marketing businesses, enables us to offer a more integrated and coordinated service to help our clients improve their marketing performance.”