Group revenue fell by 12.6% to £623.2 million. On a like for like (2) basis revenue fell by 8.8% impacted by the weak print trading environment. Strong management of the cost base enabled adjusted operating margin to increase by 0.7 percentage points to 20.0% delivering an adjusted operating profit of £124.7 million. Statutory operating profit increased by 4.7% to £97.9 million.
Analysis - Although the news was not the best, it beat some analyst expectations. I think the market reaction shows we may have been expecting worse. longer term looks fo the 85p to provide some resistance - if the breaks it could be confirmation of a move higher.