Annual Report and Accounts

You can download our current Annual Report in PDF format, or request that we send you the report by post or email. Please click on the relevant link below.

Interim Report to July 2007 - Click here to download
Annual Report to January 2008- Click here to download

Click here to request a copy of the Annual Report by email, and to request a hard copy to be posted to you, click here.

Highlights:

The Board of Vitesse Media Plc (AIM: VIS), the publishing, events and multimedia company, announces its annual results for the twelve months ending 31 January 2008.

Financial Highlights

• Revenues up 51% to £4.9m (2007: £3.3m), of which online revenues up 58%
• Organic revenue growth of 11.2% to £3.6m (2007: £3.3m)
• Gross Profit Margin increased from 65% to 66%
• EBITDA profit £0.02m (2007: £0.24m loss)

Operational Highlights

• Acquisition of What Investment, a leading subscription title for investors, made on last day of previous financial year and now incorporated in trading results
• Acquisition of Group's sixth strong brand, which incorporates publishing rights - Information Age magazine, with accompanying website and a range of events
• Business XL redesign successfully undertaken in the last quarter of 2007/08

Chairman’s Statement

I am delighted to report a much-improved performance for the year, including the achievement of the important milestone of delivering a full-year EBITDA profit. The improvement has been driven by increasing revenues across the board, including a 58% growth in our online activities, of which 32% was from organic growth.

On 6 February 2007, we acquired What Investment and, on 8 November 2007, Information Age. These two highly regarded brands have been published for many years, but we are confident that we have yet to exploit their full online and event potential.

What Investment had a very good year; the publication's website, WhatInvestment.co.uk was relaunched and is steadily building traffic. It has exceeded all our expectations.

Information Age was only owned by the Group for three months. During this time it was successfully integrated into the Group and we have been able to realise immediate annualised savings of £0.25m, with further significant savings due to be realised in the 2008/09 financial year.

Trading Update for first quarter 2008/9

During the first quarter, two major events were staged. The inaugural Rosenblatt New Energy Awards was launched at the Jumeirah Carlton, an event that was immediately successful both in profits and enjoyment, and has already transferred to the the Natural History Museum for the 2009 event in order that an increased number of guests can be accommodated. The M&A Awards event enjoyed a strong second year and was transferred to the Hilton Park Lane, London, to provide us with a larger venue. The success of these events meant that we were on budget for the first two months, February and March.

Trading in April has proved to be difficult, in particular advertising sales for What Investment and Information Age. However, subscription numbers for What Investment showed a strong upturn and the redesign of Business XL, which occurred in the last quarter of 2007/08, won many new friends, resulting in a good financial performance for advertising in the magazine. The sales team for Business XL is also benefiting from working closely with the sales team for Information Age, thus winning new business.

The year ahead

We have carried out a comprehensive review of our activities following the acquisitions of our fith and sixth brands last year. We have examined how we can work more efficiently across our titles and platforms and have refocused our effortst, particularly in the area of events.

As a result, in the last quarter of the financial year under reveiw, we commenced the process of driving through substantial changes in the way we work, a process that has continued into the current financial year. While the Company will show a loss at the interim stage, the anticipated annualised cost savings of over £0.5m will have their full impact in the last six months of the current financial year, at which time the full benefits of this reassessment will be apparent.

We continue to refresh and invest in all our brands. In June 2008, SmallBusiness.co.uk was relaunched and GrowthBusiness.co.uk, Information-Age.com and GrowthCompany.co.uk will be refreshed in the second half of the year. A new design for M&A magazine was unveiled in early July and we are working on a new look for What Investment, to be unveiled in the autumn.

We continue to examine and develop new ideas that will enable us to exploit our intellectual property to the full and are confident that, once the economy returns to a more positive note, the Company will demonstrate stong profit and financial performance.

Sara Williams
Chairman and Chief Executive

Financial History

Consolidated Profit and Loss Account £000's

Turnover and operating (loss)/profit all derive from continuing operations.

Consolidated Statement of total recognised Gains and Losses for the year ended 6 February 2007 £000's

Vitesse Annual Financial Dates

Year End: 31 January
Interims: Last week of October
Finals: Last Week of June
Annual General Meeting: Last week in June