Centaur Media Says Trading Continuing To Improve

8th Jul 2010 07:36

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Publisher Centaur Media PLC (CAU.LN) Thursday said it has made a solid start to its current fiscal year, as the much-improved trading conditions it reported at the end of fiscal 2010 have continued. The firm said while the economic environment remains uncertain, it expects to benefit due to its strong portfolio of brands, new product pipeline and experienced management team. Centaur--which publishes titles like The Lawyer and Marketing Week--said it expects to post profits in line with its board's expectations for the year ended June 30. It didn't say what these were, but according to FactSet analysts expect the group to make a pretax profit of between GBP2.9 million and GBP3.7 million. The firm has been aided by a recovery in advertising revenue, which it said rose 10% on the same period a year earlier in the second half. The publishing industry as a whole suffered throughout the downturn as advertisers cut back on spending. Centaur also runs exhibitions and conferences and said its events division had a busy end to the year, with its two major exhibitions achieving revenue growth of 12% in the final two months of the fiscal. -By Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9298; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 08, 2010 02:36 ET (06:36 GMT)