There is something to be said about a traditional publishing company growing its digital advertising revenues in the era of Facebook and Google. Future (FUTR) – which publishes specialist titles such as TechRadar and PC Gamer – reported a 21 per cent increase in digital display advertising to £19.5m in the year to September 2017, thanks to investment in its marketing platform, which has helped attract new customers.
It’s a sharp contrast to the Future of recent years, which struggled amid the rising competition for advertising slots. Zillah Byng-Thorne has led a strategic overhaul at the group, which now focuses on publishing specialist titles in niche areas, published online and in print. The company also buys unloved print titles and releases new value by publishing online. That helped magazine revenue grow by 43 per cent in the year, despite a 9 per cent decline in like-for-like sales.
Ms Byng-Thorne has also added a price comparison and e-commerce division to the business, which reported a 107 per cent increase in revenue to £8.9m. This new division has also helped expand margins, meaning adjusted cash profit more than doubled to £11m. With further margin expansion due in the year to September 2018, broker Numis has upgraded its forecasts and now expects pre-tax profit of £13.4m and EPS of 22.5p (from £8.3m and 21p in FY2017).
| FUTURE (FUTR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 376p | MARKET VALUE: | £171m | |
| TOUCH: | 376-390p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 394p | LOW: 139p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 88 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 135p* | NET DEBT | 16% | |
| Year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2013 | 112 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| 2014 | 66.0 | -35.4 | -10.2 | nil |
| 2015 | 59.8 | -2.3 | -0.4 | nil |
| 2016 | 59.0 | -14.9 | -59.6 | nil |
| 2017 | 84.4 | 0.2 | 4.3 | nil |
| % change | +43 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £92.3m, or 203p a share | ||||
