Royal wedding boost for newspapers and magazines

John Menzies yesterday cheered a royal wedding boost for its newspaper distribution business as it charted a course for steady full-year profit growth.

In a trading update, the Edinburgh-based group said last month's marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton increased volumes of the weekend newspapers and magazines it delivered.

But the company cautioned that the marketplace remained "difficult".

At the aviation arm, which generates similar profits to the distribution business on lower turnover, trading in the first four months of the year was said be ahead of the same period in 2010.

The firm's finance director, Paul Dollman, described the level of contract wins as "encouraging".

He said: "These tend to be three-year contracts so in any one year a third of the business is coming up for renewal. We have a strong track record of winning more than we lose."

Menzies, which was founded in 1833, said it remained on track to hit full-year forecasts. Altium Securities is expecting a pre-tax profit of 51.5 million, up from 45m a year earlier.