Shares in Bath-based media group Future shot up to their highest-ever price last week after its directors told investors they expect its financial results to be “significantly ahead” of market expectations this year.
Future, which has its shares listed on the London Stock Exchange, has achieved strong growth recently following a root-and-branch restructuring five years ago when it plunged into the red.
A spate of acquisitions in the UK and US have driven up sales and profits and taken the group, best known for its tech and hobby titles and websites such as TechRadar, PC Gamer and Guitar World, into new lucrative market segments.
In a trading update last Tuesday the group said the strong momentum it had experienced in the first quarter of the financial year had continued and the board now expected the outcome for the first half to be “significantly ahead of its expectations”.
The statement added: “In particular, we have seen a positive performance in audience numbers within the Media side of the business, which has led to strong revenue conversion in both ecommerce and digital display advertising over the first four months of the financial year.
“Whilst a great deal of uncertainty remains from the macro-economic environment in terms of the second half outcome, the strong trading in the first four months of the financial year means that the board now expects the outcome for the full year to be significantly ahead of market expectations.”
The upbeat outlook triggered a leap in Future’s share price last week, pushing it up to 690.4p for the first time in the firm’s 34-year history. It has since fallen back slightly and the shares closed today at 684p.
Earlier this month Future bought back Cycling News and Procycling Magazine from Bristol and London-based Radio Times publisher Immediate five years after it was forced to sell them along with most of its sports, craft and hobby magazines and websites for £24m to stave off a looming financial crisis.
Future’s portfolio includes titles ranging from Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and What Hi-Fi?, to global platforms such as Techradar, PCGamer.com and T3 and events such as the Homebuilding & Renovating Show.
The group was founded by former local paper journalist Chris Anderson in 1985 with one magazine, Amstrad Action. He sold it to publishing giant Pearson for £52.7m in 1994 but bought it back, with a group of investors, four years later for £142m.
