Hibu's shares soar on profits rise

Shares in digital services provider Hibu soared above 36 per cent Tuesday after the group posted rise in profits during the last quarter.Profits before tax increased by £2.0m to £19m for the last three months of 2012, driven by a 31% surge in digital services revenues to £345m. The division contributed to 36% of total group revenues as the customer base grew by 10% to 391,100.Chief Executive Officer Mike Pocock said the group continued to make significant progress with pilots underway for a range of new digital products and services."Our new strategic products are progressing well from development to market readiness," he said. "Community magazines are being sold into more than 600 markets and generating orders of more than half a million pounds a week." However, group revenues fell by 14% to £314m, pulled down by a 22% drop in print and other directory sales and a 7.0% decline in digital directories.Yellow Pages advertisers reduced by 20% to 189,000 resulting in a 5.3% decrease in revenue per advertiser to £933.Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation were down £52m to £55m, while cash flow tumbled by £12m to £59m.RD