Yell shares hit as boss and finance director reveal plans to quit

Condron began his Yell career in 1980 as a member of its marketing team before becoming managing director of Yellow Pages Group in 1994 and chief executive of Yell following its sale by BT in 2001.

The 60-year-old, who has told the company he intends to retire by next May, has grown the Yellow Pages business into a major player in the United States, Spain and the online market in the UK.

Davis, who has been chief financial officer since 2000, is leaving to "pursue a new direction in his career". He will stay until a successor is found.

The departures were announced as Yell posted annual results showing the impact of another difficult year for the advertising industry.

Revenues fell 11.5 per cent to 2.12 billion and adjusted earnings were down 24 per cent to 619.6 million in the year to 31 March, although Condron said trading in the fourth quarter of the period was ahead of guidance. He added: "The financial and economic impacts over the past two and more years have been unprecedented for our customers and, therefore, for ourselves."

Yell shares slid 22 per cent to close at 36.76p following the departure announcements.

Revenues from Yellow Pages printed directories slumped 19 per cent to 409.4m, leading to a 16 per cent drop in UK underlying earnings to 225.2m.

The firm has focused on retaining customers during the downturn, as new clients were less loyal and spent less than those who have been with Yell for years. As a result, it said retention of advertisers was only one percentage point lower for the year, with recent trends showing improvement.

Website Yell.com maintained its growth rate and now represents 29 per cent of total revenues in the UK, compared with 23.8 per cent a year earlier.

Condron added: "Economic recovery, and therefore the recovery of our customers' confidence, has yet to become fully established."