Slow August in Spain hits shares of phone directory publisher Yell

A sleepy Spanish August knocked the froth off shares in telephone directories publisher Yell.

Investors had expected bigger revenues in the first two months from TPI, the equivalent of Yellow Pages on the Costas, after Yell splashed out 2.2bn to buy it in April.

Boss John Condron insisted everything was going according to plan, except that August was typically a quiet publishing month.

He said: "We are exactly where we expected to be with this business. The Spanish organisation works pretty hard. That whole idea of siestas is just a historical view of life."

Half year group sales rose 19pc to 849m. Analyst Alex DeGroote at Panmure Gordon had pencilled in 917m. He said: "Yell has been the beneficiary of a lot of good news in a reasonably short space of time."

Yell shares fell 42p to 583p, their lowest since mid-September. But they have still advanced 23pc in the last 12 months. The group is confident it will meet full year forecasts.

It hiked the half-time dividend 12pc to 5.7p. Profits fell 44pc to 87m after financing the TPI deal.