As reported by Future plc:
Financial highlights
- Revenue was flat year-on-year at £788.2m (FY 2023: £788.9m), with +1% organic growth, offset by adverse foreign exchange (mainly USD).
- The Group returned to year-on-year organic revenue growth of +1%, with a strong H2 performance, up +5%.
- UK revenue grew by +6% on an organic basis driven by Media +13% with continued very strong growth in Go.Compare, up +28%, B2B recorded +2% growth whilst B2C saw a (6)% decline, impacted by market conditions and the weight of Magazines.
- US revenue fell by (6)% on an organic basis, with an improving trend with H2 flat. This was driven by Media, with digital advertising returning to organic year-on-year growth in H2 of +2%, with further acceleration in Q4.
- Profitability was in line with expectations with 28% adjusted operating margin reflecting investment from the previously announced Growth Acceleration Strategy (GAS), resulting in an adjusted operating profit decline of (13)% to £222.2m (FY 2023: £256.4m). Statutory operating profit was down (23)% to £133.7m (FY 2023: £174.5m) mainly reflecting adjusted operating profit movement.
- The Group remains highly cash generative with adjusted free cash flow of £222.3m (FY 2023: £253.2m), representing 100% of adjusted operating profit (FY 2023: 99%). Cash generated from operations was £230.0m (FY 2023: £241.0m).
- Leverage reduced to 1.1x (FY 2023: 1.3x) with net debt at the end of the year of £256.5m (FY 2023: £327.2m). Total available debt facilities at the end of September 2024 were £650m (FY 2023: £900m).
- £68.6m was returned to shareholders during the year comprising £64.7m through share buybacks (FY 2023: £13.0m) and dividends of £3.9m (FY 2023: £4.1m). New share buyback programme for up to £55m starting in January 2025.
Growth Acceleration Strategy (GAS)
- In December 2023, we launched the Growth Acceleration Strategy (GAS) to ensure Future is well-positioned to capitalise on future opportunities in its attractive and growing markets. This is a two-year investment programme of £25m-£30m to drive acceleration in a compounding model.
- We’ve made good progress in the first year of the plan, resulting in the Group’s return to organic growth. We’ve added over 100 new team members across sales, editorial and back office and progress against our three strategic pillars includes:
- Growing a highly engaged and valuable audience - increased focus on brand leadership and content to drive premium monetisation:
- Online users continued to stabilise in H2 2024, with users finishing the year down (6)% at 226m, with growth in Technology and Gaming verticals (FY 2023: 241m). Sessions2 were up +2% year-on-year with an increase in sessions per user.
- Off-platform users grew to 250m (FY 2023: 240m), driven by Apple News and social media followers.
- Announcing today a strategic partnership with Open AI to bring our content to Open AI’s users, creating new ways for users to engage with our content. The partnership is not financially material.
- Diversifying and increasing revenue per user - adding new routes of monetisation and driving market-leading positions to improve yield:
- Branded content growth of +9% to support the move to premium monetisation of our online audience.
- Vouchers grew +40% and now contribute £13.0m of revenue.
- Go.Compare growth of +28% driven by strong car insurance performance and good progress in other insurance categories.
- B2B returned to year-on-year growth with organic revenue growth of +2%.
Optimising our portfolio
Ensuring we have the right portfolio of assets is a continuous process. During the year, we announced the closure of a small number of non-core or low to no growth assets to ensure the Group is best positioned for sustainable growth.
A clear focus for FY 2025
As we look to complete GAS, our focus will be to:
- Yield our editorial investment
- Improve monetisation
- Diversify Go.Compare revenue
Whilst continuously reviewing our portfolio, applying our capital allocation and maintaining strong financial characteristics.
Board changes
- As previously stated, on 18 October 2024, we announced that Jon Steinberg (CEO) would be stepping down in 2025. The board has initiated a search for his replacement and will provide an update on the search when appropriate.
- Sharjeel Suleman joined the Company’s board as chief financial officer on 16 September 2024.
Outlook
- Our return to revenue growth in H2, driven by the execution of GAS, puts the Group in a good position to achieve current market expectations for FY 2025. We expect to continue to operate at an adjusted operating profit margin of 28% for the coming year reflecting the planned incremental GAS costs, and to maintain strong cash conversion.
- Beyond FY 2025, we now expect to deliver accelerating organic revenue growth, in line with current market expectations.
Jon Steinberg, Future's chief executive, said: “We launched our Growth Acceleration Strategy one year ago and have made good strategic progress. We have invested in sales and editorial roles, successfully diversified and grown revenue per user, and we have further optimised our portfolio. Importantly, the Group has returned to organic revenue growth during the year, underpinned by a strong H2 performance.
“The execution of our strategy combined with our strong financial characteristics, including a flexible cost base and highly cash generative profile, creates further optionality and positions the business well.
“Looking ahead, whilst we remain mindful of the macro environment and the ongoing evolution of the media landscape, we are confident that the ongoing execution of our Growth Acceleration Strategy will drive long-term accelerating organic revenue growth.”
The full results can be viewed here.
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