Anglo-Dutch publishing group Reed Elsevier PLC announced a share placing to raise money to repay some of its debt.

Educational publisher, based in London and Amsterdam, posted a drop of 48 percent in profit for the first half of the year, making shares to dip about 15 percent to $6.68.

In London trading shares closed at 407 pence, down 15.3 percent, whereas in Amsterdam shares dropped 14.9 percent to 7.11 euros.

Speaking on the topic, Ian Smith, chief executive said, "The depth and length of the downturn is... having some effect on even our most resilient businesses."

Reed Elsevier said it plans to place shares of up to 9.9 percent of it issued share capital, or 109.2 million new shares.

Reed Elsevier is aiming to improve its balance sheet, which turned weak after company's failure to sell its reed Business information unit and by lifting debt to buy ChoicePoint, a data aggregation firm.

Company's net profit dropped to £161 million pounds, down from £309 million pounds a year earlier.

Reed Elsevier's revenues in constant currencies jumped 3 percent to 3.06 billion pounds, while adjusted operating profit took a leap of 5 percent to 782 million pounds.