Growth for Reed in Australia, but company plans $250m global cutbacks

Tim Burrowes

February 19, 2009 9:17

Reed Business Information’s Australian operations helped drive growth in the company in 2008, its owner Reed Elsevier said tonight in an update to the financial markets which also warned of a worse year ahead

Revenues at RBI, whose local titles include the likes of B&T, Australian Doctor, Encore and Money Management, held up well despite an on-off attempt to sell the company. However, the update says the outlook has worsened and a cost cutting drive is about to get under way.

Within RBI’s “international” division, covering Australia, Asia Pacific and parts of Europe, the company saw revenue growth of 2%, with online growth up by 26% and print down 4%.

Much of the online growth was driven by the rollout into several markets of the Hotfrog business directory, an online business created in Australia. The update added: “Online revenues now represent 25% of RBI International revenues.”

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.