Revenues at GMG, excluding the Trader Media Group sale, were up by 8.7% for the year to £438.8m.
GMG pocketed £334.8m from the disposal of the Trader Media stake to private equity firm Apax Partners in March 2007. The two firms went on to buy Emap's B2B arm in partnership.
In its first year under joint ownership, Trader Media Group increased revenues to £319.8m, up from £312.5m the year before. However, operating profit declined to £90.7m, down from £104.6m, due to restructuring costs and substantial marketing investment.
Guardian News & Media, the division that publishes the Guardian and Observer newspapers, increased turnover from £245.7m in 2006/07 to £261.9m in 2007/08.
Newspaper display advertising revenues grew by 6.6%. Digital display and recruitment on sites including grew by 49%.
However, the division registerd an operating loss of £24.9m, before exceptional items and amortisation, compared with a loss of £15.9m last year, due to increased investment and restructuring costs.
GMG's regional media division was the most seriously affected by the difficult ad market conditions and classified ad sales fell by 8.1%, while display ads increased by just 1% year on year. Operating profit fell from £19.4m in 2006/07 to £14.3m in 2007/08.
GMG Radio, which includes the Smooth Radio network, suffered a decline in operating profit, excluding exceptional items, to £0.1m, which was down from £3.5m in 2007.
This fall was due to high levels of brand investment, the cost of integrating the Saga stations acquired in February 2007 and a weak national ad market.
Carolyn McCall, chief executive of GMG, said: "Our businesses operate in an intensely competitive, fast-changing media environment. In this context, we are very pleased with our performance and the progress we have made."
GMG warned of challenging times ahead. The group said that the continuing economic downturn would have a significant impact on important revenues streams in the coming financial year.
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