Yo-yo Yell's digital direction disappoints

Shares in Yell, the heavily indebted Yellow Pages publisher, plunged today, as chief executive Mike Pocock unveiled a four-year strategic plan that left investors underwhelmed.

The shares - which rose 16% on Tuesday after announcing a partnership deal with Microsoft - fell 18% to 9p. Pocock wants to move the company from being primarily focused on print advertising to becoming a provider of digital marketing services for local businesses. The Yell boss described the new focus as being the "local
e-marketplace leader" and said the existing 6500 sales force can build on existing relationships with 1.3 million customers.

Digital should grow from a quarter to three-quarters of group revenues by 2015, and print declines to 25%.

The company's key new niche areas include Latin American markets, university campuses and local newsletters. Some analysts were concerned the pace of change will not be faster as profits and cash flow will "return to growth by 2015" rather than an earlier date.

Chief financial officer Tony Bates said it will take until then "before everything is humming" and the cost of investment has "burnt off".

Yell also had no news about tackling its debt, which stood at £2.76 billion on March 31.