Magazine publisher reveals improvement in trading
Magazine and digital publisher Future says it has seen an improvement in trading in the last three months.
The Bath company, which publishes a range of specialist titles, has released a post-close trading statement for the last six months.
The firm said the expected revenue improvement for the fourth quarter has continued, resulting in a return to organic revenue growth for the group.
The return to growth has been driven by a strong performance in Go.Compare, alongside good growth in B2B, and a resilient performance in magazines.
The growth has been offset by a more challenging performance in affiliate products and digital advertising as macroeconomic pressures and low visibility continue to impact the wider sector.
Website users’ broad stabilisation has continued in the second quarter but remains in year-on-year decline.
The implementation of the firm’s growth acceleration strategy, as outlined at full-year results in December 2023, is underway, with encouraging progress from so called hero brands, which continue to outperform the wider brand portfolio.
This has been combined with a stronger performance in US direct advertising, a key strategic initiative,
In February Future announced a reorganisation to accelerate its growth strategy, with the creation of three business units to enhance our offer to audiences and partners: B2C, Go.Compare and B2B.
The reorganisation will make the group more agile and less complex enabling faster execution of the strategy to deliver improved growth.
The group is highly cash generative and cash conversion in the half has been strong.
As a result Future is on-track to deliver on expectations for the full year, subject to impact of foreign exchange translation.
