According to Future:
Financial highlights
* Strong set of results with Group revenue up 43% to £84.4m (2016: £59.0m)
o Media division revenue up 43% to £34.1m (2016: £23.9m) of which 34% is organic growth
o eCommerce increased 107% year-on-year to £8.9m
o Events grew 58% year-on-year to £5.2m, bolstered by acquisitions of £1.6m
o Digital display grew 21% year-on-year to £19.5m
o Magazine division revenue up 43% to £50.3m (2016: £35.1m), driven by the acquisitions of Imagine Publishing, Team Rock and Home Interest
o Recurring revenue streams now represent 27% (2016: 25%) of total revenue
* Adjusted EBITDA increased by 112% to £11.0m (2016: £5.2m), reflecting margin expansion through change in revenue mix and revenue growth across both Media and Magazine divisions
* Continued growth of adjusted operating profit up 218% to £8.9m (2016: £2.8m) before share based payments, amortisation of acquired intangibles and exceptional items of £8.1m (2016: £17.0m) and reported operating profit up to £0.8m (2016: loss of £14.2m)
* Adjusted EPS materially increased by 144% to 23.2p per share (2016: 9.5p per share) and reported EPS increased to 4.3p per share (2016: loss of 59.6p)
* Strong adjusted operating cash inflow of £17.1m (2016: £6.5m) and reported operating cash inflow up 287% to £12.0m (2016: £3.1m) with adjusted cash conversion of 155%
* The Board is considering the payment of a dividend in the current financial year ending September 2018
Operational highlights
* Significant momentum in delivering the Group’s strategy of being a global platform for specialist media, with strengthened diversified revenue streams through acquisitions and organic growth through innovation
* Increased audience diversification with the introduction of Home Interest content vertical; now reaching seven different audience communities
* Media division
o Considerable online audience growth – 53.3 million monthly online users in 2017 Q4, up 18% year-on-year, with organic growth of 12% year-on-year
o Growth of events portfolio through the acquisition of 10 additional annual events
o Website platform starting to scale with new launches of DigitalCameraWorld.com and Realhomes.com
o Investment in a technology stack capitalising on the growth in programmatic while maximising digital yields
* Acquisitions of Imagine Publishing and Team Rock now fully integrated with integration of Home Interest on track
Zillah Byng-Thorne, Future's Chief Executive, said: “Our strategy to diversify revenues through acquisition and organically has delivered substantial growth in both operating profitability and cash conversion. This has been driven by strong revenue performance in eCommerce and events, supported by our investment in digital assets and continued tight management of costs.
“Our three acquisitions during the financial year have further increased the size and range of our engaged communities. The integration of both Imagine and Team Rock has now been completed and Home Interest, acquired in early August, is progressing well.
“We are seeing clear momentum in our strategy to build a global platform business for specialist media with data at its heart, focused on enduring content that connects with our substantial and expanding audience base.”
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