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November 18, 2008

UBM construction titles take profit hit as ad revenues fall

By Dominic Ponsford

United Business Media has revealed that print advertising is down by more than 20 per cent in some of the sectors in which it operates.

In an interim management statement this morning, the company also revealed that it has shed 300 jobs in the second half of 2008.

Profits for its B2B publishing division CMPi will be down year on year “due to weakness in the UK economy and losses from new product development”.

UBM said the sharp decline in print advertising in some sectors is due both to ‘economic disruption’and ‘an accelerated switch to digital and online platforms”.

It said its titles in construction – such as Building – have been affected by this. These titles are predicted to show a £4m decrease in profits in 2008.

But it said that some titles continued to perform well, such as weekly magazine Farmers Guardian, which has achieved a six per cent growth in revenues year on year.

At UBM’s online technology publications Techweb and Everything Channel, online revenues were said to be up 20 per cent year on year and growth is forecast to continue in 2009.

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The company said of online: ‘Engagement rather than reach is becoming increasingly important as customers focus on outcome-based marketing.

“This has led to increasing demand from customers for lead generation through online ‘opt in’ products and services and through face-to-face participation.”

United Business Media will issue a further trading update on 12 December in advance of announcing its-full year results on 3 March.

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