* Ex-Cisco manager Michael Pocock new CEO from Jan. 1
* Q2 organic revenue down 12.1 percent
* Shares drop 18 percent
(Adds details, background)
LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - British yellow-pages publisher Yell named ex-Cisco manager Michael Pocock as its new chief executive and reported an accelerated slide in quarterly sales, sending its shares down 18 percent.
Yell, whose CEO and last chief financial officer both announced their departure in May, said its customer base of small businesses had not yet regained economic confidence, resulting in a second-quarter sales decline of 12.1 percent.
For the first half, revenue fell 11.2 percent at constant exchange rates to 896 million pounds ($1.45 billion), and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 12.2 percent to 265 million pounds.
"Our revenues are directly related to the confidence small businesses feel, and small businesses continue to see little evidence of economic recovery," outgoing CEO John Condron said in a statement.
The company said it would still meet full-year profit expectations by cutting costs.
Yell shares fell as much as 18 percent and by 0817 GMT were trading down 13.9 percent at 13.4 pence, against a flat European media index.
"Yell remains our least preferred stock in the sector and has to be seen as a high risk, speculative investment," Numis analysts wrote in a note, putting their recommendation and target price under review.
Yell is labouring under structural as well as cyclical pressure as consumers increasingly use Google and other search engines to find details of local businesses instead of using Yellow Pages directories.
New CEO Pocock was general manager of Linksys, the home and small business networking division of network equipment giant Cisco, from 2006 until 2009. He was previously CEO of Polaroid Corporation and an executive at Compaq Computer Corporation.
"We do not underestimate the structural, cyclical and financial challenges facing him," Numis wrote.
Last month, Yell appointed ex-Colt and EMI executive Tony Bates as its new finance chief.
Yell last year struck a deal with creditors to extend its debt until 2014 and followed that with a 660 million-pound rights issue. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) ($1=.6201 Pound)