Cost cutting leads Mecom to upgrade profit forecast

EUROPEAN newspaper group Mecom yesterday raised its core profit guidance by 28 per cent thanks to continuing cost cutting as it confirmed David Montgomery would step down as chief executive by the end of this month.

The publisher, which said it would make a further announcement regarding the veteran newspaper executive's successor "shortly", noted in a trading update that underlying earnings in the second half of the year were about €11 million (9.3m) higher than in the same period of 2009.

As a result, it estimates full-year earnings would be about €155m, compared with €121m for the previous year. It reports its results on 16 March.

Mecom's shares closed up 11 per cent or 26p at 266p. Two leading contenders for the chief executive's role ruled themselves out in December, Mike Anderson, a former senior executive at News International, and John Farrell, a former executive at Publicis, the French advertising group.