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Health and beauty: glow faded during second half of year

The glow in the women's health and beauty sector for the first half of 2002 faded in the last six months with some of the top titles losing their grip on the market.

In a period which is, not surprisingly, sluggish in the second half of the year, the sector as a whole took a few knocks. However, the ongoing popularity of free titles from major health retailers continued to storm ahead of the paid-for titles and keep the sector buoyant.

The bi-monthly free title Spirit of Superdrug, from River Publishing, held on to the number one slot in the health and beauty category, with its circulation of one million.

River's other bi-monthly title for Holland & Barrett, Healthy, held on at number three, enjoying a 12.6% rise in circulation to reach 233,547.

Following Emap's steady performance last period, its health and beauty titles lost some ground this time around.

Among the top losses was Emap Esprit's Here's Health, whose circulation dropped by 16.9% year on year and by 18.7% on the period to reach 22,097.

It was also a tough period for Emap Elan's Top Santé Health & Beauty, which suffered a huge drop of 21.8% over the period and six per cent over the year.

However, according to Emap Élan managing director Dawn Bebe, the title remains the market leader "by a mile".

"Top Santé has a cyclical ABC -  its huge at the beginning of the year and then lower at the end, so this figure reflects its six-month low," she says. "Health is a difficult market - we have some plans to tweak the title editorially in the coming months."

It was a stronger performance for NatMags' title Zest, which recorded a circulation growth of 15.1% year on year and 8.2% over the period.

The figure continues on a strong growth last period to reach a circulation of 115,081.

According to publishing director Justine Southall, this is partly due to the £500,000 redesign at the start of the year.

"Health and beauty is traditionally quieter at the start of the year than the second, but the August issue is often a key one which can boost the period," she says.

"Magazines are increasingly using cover mounting to sustain sales throughout the year. We are extremely pleased with the performance of Zest following the introduction of greater reader usability in the magazine.

"I think that the growth in popularity of free titles has grown the market in general rather than taking readers from other titles as people think differently about free magazines than paid for titles and would often read both."

Rival news-stand title Shape, from Dennis, also continued to perform well, growing by 12.6% year on year and 6.6% on the period to reach a circulation of 76,109.

The popularity of the slimming market appeared to wane with the second half of the year as the winter months approached.

There was no change at the top of the market, with Slimming World magazine from Miles-Bramwell holding on to a circulation of 257,102, slightly down on the period but up by 9.1% year on year.

According to Slimming World editor and publisher Christine Michael, the sector as a whole is continuing to grow in line with the increase in popularity of dieting and slimming.

"The sheer scale of the problem of obesity and concerns over health will mean continued interest in finding ways to combat the problem," says Michael.

Emap Esprit was also hit badly in this sector with its Slimming title falling by 16.9% over the last year.  The fall was toughest in the last six months, with a 20.1% drop in circulation to 80,335.

The Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Magazine from Quorn House Publishing fell by 15.1% year on year and by 31.5% throughout the period.