Emap has announced drastic cuts to its spending forecast on digital projects. When the company’s new media division, Emap Digital, was established in March this year it was said that around £250m would be spent on digital projects over the following three years, including up to £75m this year.
Announcing its interim results yesterday, Emap has revised the figure for expenditure to March 2003 to no more than £120m, of which around £50m will be spent during this financial year. The company says that the decision comes as a result of “thorough market analysis”, which has identified eight key markets where “Emap’s capability and the scale of opportunity is large enough to deliver exceptional returns.” Projects in these key areas are expected to reach break-even point by 2003 and begin delivering a 35% return on investment by 2005.
Digital projects scheduled to go ahead during the second half of this financial year include The Slam, a youth destination site due for launch in Spring 2001 in partnership with Channel 4; sites produced in partnership with French ISP Wanadoo; and further investment in b2b website Construction Plus.
