According to Future plc:
Financial highlights
• Group revenue £30.2m (2015: £30.8m) – reflecting growing digital opportunities and continued management of print
o Media division revenue up 15% to £13.2m, making up 44% of overall revenue, including:
* Global new revenue stream, e-commerce, up 250%
* Events revenue increased by 13%
o Magazine division revenue down 12% to £17.0m, reflecting the market’s overall structural decline
o Recurring revenue streams now representing 25% of total revenue
• EBITE increased 50% to £0.6m (2015: £0.4m)
• Operating profit £0.1m (2015: loss £1.0m)
• Operating cash inflow before exceptionals £2.6m (2015: £1.5m) resulting in net cash balance of £0.6m
Operational highlights
• Media division – strong performance from global media brands
o Techradar monetisation up 81% – leveraging content to harness e-commerce
o PC Gamer revenue increased 18% – strengthened relationships with hardware providers
o Strengthened events portfolio with acquisition of Noble House Media & Blaze Publishing assets – five new events added
o Continued strength in digital advertising focused on building recurring revenues
• Magazine division – margin improvements being delivered
o Building scale and strengthened portfolio through acquisition of titles from Noble House Media and Blaze Publishing
o Opportunities for further bolt-on acquisitions
o Increase in market share in key areas
Zillah Byng-Thorne, Future’s Chief Executive, said: “We are now in the optimisation phase of our strategy with the Media division showing notably strong growth from our two new revenue streams, e-commerce and events.
“Our in-house developed e-commerce engine, ‘Hawk’, has now achieved scale generating over £85m of gross revenue for our customers in the last 12 months.
“In events, we held another successful The Photography Show and plan to launch a number of new events this year. The five events recently acquired further strengthens our reach.
“The Magazine division is performing well and has been strengthened by the acquisition of a number of complementary titles and the addition of a new vertical to address the shooting market.
“This is an encouraging performance in the year to date, with recurring revenue streams now representing 25% of our total revenue. We expect the trends seen in the first half to continue into the second half of the financial year.”
Future’s detailed statement to the London Stock Exchange can be viewed here.
