Emap has mixed message for new owners

In what may well be the final trading update of its 60-year history, Emap on Friday revealed a mixed message for the new owners of its three divisions.

Overall, the publishing and radio group said trading in the third quarter was “robust and we remain on track to deliver against our expectations for the full year”.

There was good news from the business-to-business arm of Emap, which is being bought by a joint venture of Apax, the private equity firm, and Guardian Media Group for £1bn. B2B revenues rose 14 per cent on the back of strong performances from the events and information-products arms.

The company said it expected business to be good for the rest of the year.

However, the consumer magazines business, which along with Emap Radio has been sold to the German publisher, H. Bauer, for £1.14bn, saw a fall of 9 per cent in revenues and the company gave a warning that trading conditions for the remainder of 2008 would “remain challenging”.

The B2C arm publishes titles such as Heat, FHM and Grazia. Bauer’s biggest title in the UK is Take A Break.

In radio, where Emap’s stations include Magic 105.4, Kiss and Smash Hits, revenues were up by 6 per cent and the company said that it was “encouraged” by the prospects for the rest of the year.

The company also held a general meeting yesterday to put the Bauer bid to shareholders, who approved the move with a 99 per cent majority.

The B2B sale will take a little longer.

At the time the company sold the other two divisions on December 7, Alun Cathcart, Emap’s chairman, said that the company had been unable to find an appropriate price for the remainder of the business and would be holding on to it.

But 14 days later, Mr Cathcart announced that Apax and GMG had been lured back to make a higher offer and that there would be a sale after all.