Future profits rise 13%

Future, which publishes titles including Total Film and Classic Rock, has posted better than expected profits despite falling ad sales.

Classic Rock
Classic Rock

Profit increased 13% to £3.6m in the six months to 31 March, despite advertising revenue falling 13%.

Stevie Spring, Future chief executive, says the company is “getting back on track” and revenue is “stabilising” showing improvement against the same period in 2009, but warns that it may be “tempting fate to say the worst is behind us”.

The UK arm of the business showed “robust” performance with revenue was down 3% compared to 7% last year.

The company says it has made “good progress” returning the US business to profit and US revenue showed a marked improvement, down 10% compared to an 18% drop in the same half the previous year.

Classic Rock magazine boosted its circulation revenue by 25% during the period and increased its ad revenue by 55%, improving its market share against rival titles Uncut and Mojo.

The companies active, technology and music & movies segments which account for 73% of the companies business “showed resilience” while its games titles fared worse.

Spring says: “At a strategic level, we’re strengthening and expanding our commercial partnerships, developing our digital offer to keep it at the forefront of continuous change, and adapting our teams and processes to stay flexible against continued macro-economic uncertainty.”

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