FHM publisher Emap hit by recruitment downturn

Magazine publisher Emap today predicted another tough year after business was hit by poor sales in France and a downturn in public sector recruitment in the UK – particularly in the NHS.

Shares in the company fell 5% after it said revenues for the year to March 31 would be flat and forecast trading over the following 12 months to “remain difficult”.

Emap blamed its struggling French business, which it put up for sale last month, and a downturn in public sector recruitment which saw advertising revenues for jobs in Nursing Times and Health Service Journal plummet 34% this year.

Emap, which also publishes FHM, Zoo and Gracia, said: “Underlying growth has been held back by the performance of our French consumer magazines business and the ongoing weakness in public sector recruitment advertising.”

Panmure Gordon analyst Alex DeGroote said the overall fall in recruitment advertising at Emap of 22% was “predictably awful”.

“There has been a continuous stream of newsflow about cuts to NHS jobs, so this shouldn’t have taken the market by surprise,” he said.

In the UK, underlying revenues at its magazines were up 4% and there was also growth of 1% at its business-to-business arm, which delivered “strong growth” outside the public sector recruitment titles.

Without its French business, which analysts expect could be worth around £400m (€579m), underlying group revenues were up 2%.