Demand for celebrity gossip, and news on heavy metal bands, has helped media giant Emap brave a dismal radio advertising market.

Emap said sales of its Kerrang! rock magazine were a "remarkable" 63% higher during the July to December period than in the last six months of 2001.

"Kerrang! is now Europe's biggest selling music weekly," the media giant said.

And weekly celebrity gossip magazine Heat turned out itself to be a "star", seeing circulation more than double to 355,000.

The performances helped Emap report a rise of 6% in underlying profits in the year to the end of March, despite an "extremely tough" radio advertising market.

Emap's radio stations, which include Kiss 100, Manchester's Key 103 and Newcastle-based Metro Radio, were continuing to struggle, Tuesday's statement warned.

"There is little evidence of any real recovery in radio advertising, and airtime revenues are expected to show negative growth in the [April to July] quarter," the company said.

Doomed investment

The briefing received a cautious welcome from investors, who have been placing renewed faith in Emap this year, with investment bank CSFB restating its "hold" rating on the company's shares.

The shares fell from more than 1,750p in January 2000 to less than 700p - even ahead of the 11 September attacks on the US - over concerns it had lost direction.

Fears were founded largely on a foray during 1999 into US markets, which former chief executive Kevin Hand had estimated could contribute 50% of Emap's profits by 2002.

He resigned in May last year as his dream failed, and a US business bought for $1.2bn was sold two months after his resignation for $515m (�365m).

Mr Hand was replaced by the man he had succeeded, Robin Miller, chief executive from 1985 to 1998, and credited with the firm's rise to prominence.

'Good growth'

Mr Miller said on Tuesday that, despite the radio advertising downturn, directors viewed prospects "with cautious optimism".

Ad revenues at Emap's UK consumer magazines had shown "good underlying growth" over the last two months.

And while the UK men's market had slowed, the US edition of FHM was "the fastest growing title on the newsstand", with circulation rising by two-thirds in a year.

Among business titles, while magazines serving media and telecoms markets have suffered reduced levels of display advertising, those serving the public sector have enjoyed a "much stronger" market.

Underlying pre-tax profits of �151m for the year to the end of March compared with �143m for the 12 months before.

In the City, Emap shares stood 8.5p higher at 868.5p in lunchtime trade.