Haymarket Media Group reports increase in profit and reduced debt following sale of HQ
Haymarket Media Group filed its annual accounts today (5 January), reporting an 8.7 per cent rise in operating profits to £5m (from £4.6m in 2014). The international media group, founded by Lord Michael Heseltine, owns 70 brands globally including Stuff, Autocar, FourFourTwo and MediaWeek.
Haymarket claims their financial success was driven by a growing demand for online content; in particular the motoring segment that houses its ‘Pistonheads’ platform, along with specialist contract-publishing and medical and pharmaceutical business information.
Alongside the rise in operating profits, the sale of its headquarters in Teddington enabled a reduction of net debt by almost 80 per cent.
Unsurprising given consumer behaviour, print revenue saw a decrease of 19 per cent since 2012, representing only 42 per cent of the total revenue, and is forecast to continue its downward spiral. On the other hand, digital revenues have increased to 33 per cent of the group total.
The group reported revenues of £184.3m in the year ending June 2015, a slight decrease from £187m the previous year.
At the pre-tax level the company reported a loss of £2.8m amid observations by chief executive Kevin Costello that the company “has not been immune to the volatile advertising climate”. The company opted to “focus in on our top performing segments”, increasing its presence across North America through bolt-on acquisitions. Haymarket recently acquired Group DCA as part of its incentive to deliver industry leading medical and pharmaceutical information in the US market.
Lord Heseltine, Chairman of Haymarket, said: “Our Group is well-placed to seize expansion opportunities in the media industry following an encouraging operational performance in the last financial year. We have significantly strengthened our balance sheet since the year-end, with the sale of our Teddington site, enabling Haymarket to continue its digital transformation in our core markets.”