FHM publisher warns of falling revenues

Media group Emap – which publishes Closer and FHM – today warned underlying revenues were being hit by difficult trading conditions.

The company said circulation had grown at the weekly titles, such as Grazia, in its UK consumer magazine division but had declined for men’s and car magazines.

Chairman Adam Broadbent, who steps down today, said: “Trading in the first two months of the financial year was in line with our expectations but the trends that are now emerging make us more cautious about the prospects for underlying revenue, which may be marginally down in the first half.”

He said for the year as a whole underlying revenues are likely to be flat. Shares were down 7% today.

Last month, Emap sold its struggling French division to Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the Italian publisher of glossy magazine Grazia, for £380m (€549m).

Emap and Mondadori already had a relationship as Emap secured the licence to launch a UK version of Grazia, a title started by Mondadori in 1938 as Italy’s first women’s magazine.

The French operation was put up for sale in February, with the company later reporting a 25% fall in annual profits for the division to £38m (€55m).