Business publisher Centaur Media today reported a 15 per cent year-on-year decline in revenue for November and December.
Centaur, which publishes titles including The Lawyer and Marketing Week, was keen to stress that despite this fall the rate of decline had slowed since the start of its financial year in July.
In the four months from the start of July to the end of October, Centaur reported a 28 per cent year-on-year revenue decline.
Publishing a trading update this morning, Centaur said its reduced revenue was off-set by the continuation of cost cutting across the business.
In the four months to October Centaur’s cost base was 21 per cent lower than in the same period the previous year.
The company statement said: “We expect our trading results in the first half of the financial year to be in line with the board’s expectations.
“In addition the group maintains a strong balance sheet with net cash at 31 December 2009, also in line with our expectations.
“While levels of forward visibility remain limited the Board is confident that the fundamental strengths of the group provide a solid foundation for growth as markets continue to recover during 2010.”
In October, media acquisitions firm Critical Information said it retained an interest in buying Centaur despite having an initial proposal rejected by the business publisher which claimed the proposal undervalued the company.
Critical Information ended that interest in December after being set a “put up or shut up” deadline.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog