4 April 2024
Future plc
Trading
statement
Future plc (LSE: FUTR; "Future" or
"the Group"), the global platform for specialist media, today
announces a post-close trading for the six months ended 31 March
2024.
The expected revenue improvement to
the Q4 2023 exit rate has continued, resulting in a return to
organic revenue growth in Q2 for the Group.
The return to growth has been driven
by a strong performance in Go.Compare, alongside good growth in
B2B, and a resilient performance in Magazines. This has been offset
by a more challenging performance in affiliate products and digital
advertising as macroeconomic pressures and low visibility continue
to impact the wider sector. Website users' broad stabilisation has
continued in Q2 but remains in year-on-year decline. Importantly,
the implementation of the Growth Acceleration Strategy (GAS), as
outlined at full-year results in December 2023, is underway, with
encouraging progress from the Hero brands, which continue to
outperform the wider brand portfolio. This has been combined with a
stronger performance in US direct advertising, a key strategic
initiative, driven by the continued focus on premiumisation of
advertising inventory benefiting from the Group's scale and
first-party data.
In February, the Group announced a
reorganisation to accelerate the Growth Acceleration Strategy, with
the creation of three business units to enhance our offer to
audiences and partners: B2C, Go.Compare and B2B. The reorganisation
will make the Group more agile and less complex enabling faster
execution of the strategy to deliver improved growth.
The Group is highly cash generative
and cash conversion in the half has been strong.
As a result, the Group is on-track to
deliver on expectations for FY 2024, subject to impact of foreign
exchange translation.
Future will announce its half-year
results on 16 May 2024.
Enquiries
Future plc
Jon Steinberg, Chief Executive
Officer
+44 (0)1225
442244
Penny Ladkin-Brand, Chief Financial
Officer
Marion Le Bot, Head of Investor
Relations
+44(0)7775 641509
Media
Headland
+44 (0) 20 3805 4822
Stephen Malthouse, Rob Walker,
Charlie Twigg
future@headlandconsultancy.com
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI):
213800K2581YRLEXV353
About Future
We are the platform for creating and
distributing trusted, specialist content, to build engaged and
valuable global communities. We operate c.230 brands in diversified
content verticals, with multiple market leading positions and three
core monetisation frameworks: advertising, eCommerce affiliate and
direct consumer monetisation (subscriptions and newstrade magazine
sale). Our content is published and distributed through a range of
formats including websites, email newsletters, videos, magazines
and live events. The successful execution of our strategy is
focused on three pillars: grow engaged audience, diversify and grow
revenue per user and optimise the portfolio.