RBI, which owner Reed abandoned plans to sell in December, reported revenue of £463m in the period, a fall of 4% year on year.
Revenue in the UK, where publications include the New Scientist and Farmers Weekly and which makes up more than a quarter of the division's revenue, fell 12% from £153m to £134m in the period.
Adjusted operating profit at the RBI fell from £62m to £39m, down 37% in the period, while advertising revenue was down 30%.
The group said user revenues, which include subscriptions and online data services and account for just more than 50% of RBI revenue, have held up well, down only 2%.
The company said that its UK division had been particularly impacted by a cutback in the recruitment market, which had hit revenue at its jobs website, Totaljobs.com.
Reed had planned to cut its debt by selling off RBI, but has now decided to sell a number of its titles, primarily advertiser dependant, in the US.
Overall Reed, whose businesses include Lexis-Nexis and an exhibitions unit, announced a rise in sales of 25% to £3.06bn, while pre-tax profits dropped from £393m to £188m, due partly to restructuring costs.
Separately, the group announced that it was looking to pay down its debt pile with a share placing.
Ian Smith, chief executive of Reed Elsevier, said the decision to abandon the sale of RBI had led to the group having "more debt than is prudent".
It is thought the share placing could raise around £800m.
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