He hoped Ilanga could be in operation in about a year.

In its first six months of operation, Umlabu broke even. It produced less coal than budgeted because of heavy rains in January and February, delays in setting up the processing plant and managerial issues. It also sold its coal below spot prices because of prearranged contracts, which had now ended.

Gribnitz said Umlabu was realising about $81/ton for its coal in the six months to June against spot prices of about $116/ton, but was now realising about $120/ton. In the first six months, Umlabu's profit margin was about 55%, with yields at about 35%. Yields improved under new management, and were expected to be about 45% or better. Umlabu was now producing about 80000 run-of-mine tons a month.

Umlabu exported 65000 tons of coal via Richards Bay Coal Terminal, less than expected because of lower production and unavailability of trains.

"Daily and weekly newspapers continue to track lower than 2007 and the hybrid category - which consists of one title (The Times) - remains static," ABC VP Gordon Patterson told the audience.

"However, within this general performance, we still see specific titles delivering significant growth, which provides proof of consumer or reader vitality and support," Patterson noted.

Best year-on-year performer

The best year-on-year performer is The Weekender (over 15%), Patterson said, adding that The Sunday Sun has delivered the largest numeric gain in circulation with over 10 000 copies, while Ilanga Langesonto (10%) has also done well and completes the list of publications that stood their ground in these tougher economic times.

While B2B magazines have slightly recovered in the second quarter of 2008, ABC said that their third quarter performance is now lower than the Q2 2006 level.

There is still no recovery from consumer magazines, which continue to bite the dust [the latest casualty announced yesterday, Wednesday 12 November is Alchemy Publishing's Your Child] due to rising inputs costs and a tightening on consumer spending. "The positive performance seen during Q2 2008 has not continued into Q3 2008," Patterson said.

"While their Q3 year-on-year's real decline is only 4%, we again note significant fluctuation within the categories. Given the sustained two quarter declines, the traditional Q4 lift in circulation is now more important than ever before.

"An interesting point is the complete lack of digital circulation."

Responsiveness to innovation

Despite these mixed fortunes, Patterson said that he was satisfied that the industry continues to show responsiveness to innovation, warning that there will be more focus on the composition of circulation as advertisers seek value rather than the illusion of impact.

"To deliver a profitable future, we all will have to change the way we operate. Understanding consumers and advertisers will be paramount," he advised.

As the 'Financial Armageddon' squeezes stock markets, announcing that a global recession is imminent, fears and panic is gripping media owners, some of whom have started cutting marketing spending and input costs to boost profit and save their brands from 'melting down'.

Recession marketing

But Hendrik van Vuuren, research director and statistician at Millward Brown, advised upping marketing in the recession helps profit recovery and share gain and recently without hurting profits even during bad time.

"A brand is a sign of recognition and is linked to hopefully positive consumer experiences. A brand is a sum of all people's mental associations and those associations are not automatically voided during tough economic times.

"The key to success during downturn is maintaining focus. We need to make the most of every rand spent in support of our brands if we hope to maintain strong consumer relationships.

"Remember, recessions come and go, brands are for life," he concluded.

Issa Sikiti da Silva is a freelance journalist and short stories writer whose work has been published in local and foreign publications, both in English and French. He contributes to Bizcommunity.com as a news writer.