In the six months to 31 March, publishing and digital advertising company Future (FUTR) bolted on two major businesses in the form of Mobile Nations and Purch, and transformed its earnings and revenue.
Future now has more revenue coming in from the US than the UK, via titles such as Space.com, although the UK-dominated magazine division saw its revenue grow by a quarter in the half year to £33m. Future added to its print exposure by taking on Procycling magazine in February, alongside website CyclingNews.com.
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said the current 70/30 revenue split between the magazine side and e-commerce and digital advertising-led media division was about right. “We love print, we think it's a great medium, we think our audiences are highly engaged, but we also recognise it's a structurally different market (to the media division),” she said.
However, the acquisition spree of the past 12 months has seen Future’s debt grow from £2m at the end of March 2018 to £38.8m as of 31 March this year, or to 1.6 times adjusted cash profits from a multiple of 0.2.
Analysts at Numis expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £40m for the year to September 2019, giving EPS of 38.2p (up from £17.4 and 24.3p in 2018).
| FUTURE PLC (FUTR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,036p | MARKET VALUE: | £855m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,030-1,040p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,070p | LOW: 369p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | na | PE RATIO: | 130 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 226p* | NET DEBT: | 21% | |
| Half-year to | Turnover | Pre-tax | Earnings per | Dividend |
| 31 Mar | (£m) | profit (£m) | share (p) | per share (p) |
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2018 | 53.6 | 3.3 | 6.3 | - |
| 2019 | 109 | 8.9 | 9.2 | - |
| % change | +103 | +170 | +46 | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £274.4m, or 333p a share | ||||
