British-headquartered United Business Media saw its stock fall 3% on Friday after it announced its US technology magazine division CMP Media would miss yearly earnings forecasts following the prolonged downturn in tech advertising.

“Earlier indications that the market decline was slowing in May have not been borne out, and this area of the market has seen further softness,” the group revealed.

UBM also announced that its other operations were performing “satisfactorily”, with results at its market research division expected to meet forecasts.

Cost-cutting measures, said UBM, would weight the group’s profits towards the second half, with the full benefit felt in 2002. “The firm action that the company has taken to reduce its underlying cost base,” it continued, “puts it in a strong position to benefit from any upturn in its core markets.”

News source: Financial Times