In a season of disappointing financial results, one company has managed to surpass expectations. Reed Elsevier Plc, the publisher of Variety and New Scientist magazines, said profit rose last year on higher sales for its LexisNexis database, and predicted growth for 2009.

Adjusted profit climbed to £1.38 billion ($2 billion), or 44.6 pence a share, from £1.14 billion, or 35.9 pence, a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. Analysts had predicted a profit of 41.7 pence a share. Revenue increased to £5.33 billion from £4.58 billion in 2007.

Reed Elsevier will pay a total dividend of 20.3 pence a share, up 12 per cent from a year earlier. The company said it will expand its restructuring plan to include Reed Business Information.

Adjusted profit at Reed Elsevier's LexisNexis unit rose 26 per cent to £513 million while profit on that basis at its exhibitions business rose 32 per cent to £183 million. Adjusted profit for the health and sciences unit rose 19 per cent to £568 million . A $290 million restructuring plan is on schedule and has been expanded by $60 million, the company said.

Reed Elsevier, which halted the sale of its trade-magazine unit in December after bids dropped amid frozen credit markets and a deepening recession, said it plans to focus in the next 12 to 18 months on repaying debt. Adjusted earnings, excluding currency swings, will increase this year, the company said.

''We've significantly reshaped our portfolio and we're entering 2009 with a resilient business and a strong financial business,'' outgoing CEO Crispin Davis said. "We will, however, see a decline in Reed Exhibitions and Reed Business Information, with demand for advertising and marketing services much more affected by the tougher economic environment.''

Reed Elsevier rose 4.1 per cent to 542 pence in London trading, the biggest advance since 18 December.

Davis wanted to sell the Reed Business Information magazine unit, which publishes Variety and New Scientist, to make the company less dependent on ad revenue and swings in the economy. Reed Elsevier reiterated today it will try to sell the business again when conditions are more favorable.

''It remains our intent to divest of RBI, but exactly when that will be is hard to say,'' Davis said on a conference call. Proceeds from the sale of RBI were expected to pay down part of the £5.7bn debt, which was built up after the $4.1 billion acquisition of Choicepoint. But the sale was shelved after indications of interest for RBI fell halfway from £1.3 billion to £650 million. (See: Bain Capital may acquire Reed Elsevier arm for $1 billion)

Operating profit at RBI, which publishes Variety and Estates Gazette and accounts for less than 10 per cent of group profits, fell from £91 million to £55 million. The short-term outlook was "very challenging", the company said. Operating profit at Reed's exhibitions business, which generates about 12 per cent of group profits, rose to £123 million from £106 million but will probably fall this year because of the downturn, the company said.

This week, Reed Elsevier said it put in place a new $2 billion credit facility that starts in May 2010 and matures in May 2012. An existing revolving credit of $3 billion, which matures in May 2010, was reduced to $2.5 billion because of Reed Elsevier's lower short-term borrowing needs, the company said.

Davis retires from Reed Elsevier in March. Ian Smith, the former head of homebuilder Taylor Woodrow Plc, will succeed him.