The Financial Times reported that Yell had to issue a warning that full-year underlying profits earnings will fall short of expectations. The reason for the announcement was a sharp drop in third-quarter revenues. In the nine months to December pre-tax profits fell to £38.6m down from £75.1m in the same period last year, causing a fall in the share price by 5.5 per cent, or 0.5p, to 9.3p in mid-morning trading. The main culprit for the fall was falling print revenues, down to £936.6m from £1.13bn last year. Total UK revenue was down to £382.9m from £446.6m last year, with similar falls in Yell’s regional European and Latin American divisions.

At the same time Yell announced the appointment of Mark Payne as Group Chief Operating Officer beginning 14 February, 2011, reporting in to the Group CEO. Mark Payne will be responsible for the Company’s day to day activities at Group level, including supply chain, information technology, procurement, facilities, customer services, call centre operations and processes. (Source: Financial Times, Yell)