Two years ago, the sale of the Yellow Pages Group, which went for $2.2 Billion, was designated as the peak of the private equity boom, but this year, the business has slumped down to a much depreciated value.

For the year up-to June 30, operation in the advertising and media sector have been stable, bit the balance sheet for the directory company was hurt bad with "adjustments that hark back to its purchase by CCMP Asia and Ontario Teachers Capital in May 2007".

A total of $350 Million was completely removed from the balance sheet, after $195 Million were written-off in goodwill and $155 Million worth of adjustment was involved in interest rate changes. Overall, these figures turned a small profit into a huge $338 Million loss for the 2009 year, compared to the loss of $61.2 Million recorded for the previous year.

"Like all media we are finding the market tough. Yellow Pages advertising is not discretionary - we probably lag the market - but we are delighted to be holding. Our investors are here for the long term ... and they will eventually sell for a greater value. The impact of the credit crunch is that the goals they had will take longer", said Chief executive Bruce Cotterill.

All, however, was not bleak, as revenue managed to rise by $4.1 Million to $297 Million on the back of a growth in the firm's digital business.