Shares in the company fell sharply when the market opened this morning, down by 6%, or 12.5p, to 195p, falling further than the 200p price on January 29, a 52-week low, when it issued a statement about market difficulties.
In its full-year results for the year ending December 31 2002, revenues were up by 2.3% to £82.1m, compared with £80.3m in 2001. In January, Maiden warned that revenue growth would remain in single digits and would not reach the levels it had originally hoped. Pre-tax losses rose to £1.1m from £200,000.
In that same statement, Maiden had said that pre-tax profit before amortisation would be at least £6.3m -- a figure it beat by £100,000.
Ron Zeghibe, chief executive of Maiden, said: "These results are in line with our pre-close period statement and reflect the continued difficulties experienced by the media industry as a whole during 2002. Despite this, the outdoor medium is continuing to outperform its rivals and Maiden is maintaining its strong position within the sector."
Although sales for the start of 2003 are expected to be 24% stronger than last year, the company was far from upbeat about what lies ahead.
"Early signs in 2003 are encouraging, with a record performance in group sales in the first quarter. However, given the uncertainty in the global economic and political environments, we remain cautious about prospects for the rest of the year," Zeghibe said.
The company was not concerned about the impact of the ban on tobacco advertising, which came into force on February 14 this year. It said that tobacco accounted for just 4.4% of group revenues, which it was confident it could replace revenue with new advertisers and increases in spend from current clients in the medium term.
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