Future, the Bath-headquartered global media group, has said its diverse range of products – which spans magazines, websites and digital marketing platforms in areas as different as fashion, finance and tech – is protecting it from the consumer spending slowdown.
The highly acquisitive group also recently added two more businesses to its stable – both in the US, where it now earns the majority of its revenues.
As a result, Future has told shareholders in a trading update covering the four-month period to the end of last month, that its full-year operating profits are likely to be in line with expectations.
It said its overall revenue performance in the period had been broadly in line with expectations, adding that the market slowdown in audience numbers and consumer spending at the end of its 2022 full year had continued.
This had impacted growth of digital advertising and affiliate for products revenue, notably in the consumer technology vertical, it said.
But Future, whose titles include Country Life, Classic Rock and Decanter and which also owns the Go Compare insurance price comparison website, added that diversification of its revenue streams and content verticals, together with the operational leverage it generated from its platform effect, continued to deliver.
Its new strategic verticals of homes, fashion & beauty and wealth & savings were gaining momentum, it added, creating further medium-term opportunities.
Meanwhile its price comparison business had performed strongly, with market share gains in both car and home insurance. Magazine revenue had been resilient in the period, it added.
Its two most recent acquisitions – at a total cost of just under £45m – were ActualTech, a South Carolina-based business-to-business (B2B) content marketing firm and Gardening Know How, an Ohio-based website with 1.1m users.
It said the addition of ActualTech strengthened its position in the B2B vertical and provided greater scale and reach in North America by leveraging ActualTech’s webinar capabilities to the group’s existing portfolio.
The Gardening Know How acquisition strengthened its strategic homes vertical, Future said, bringing valuable content.
Future chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne, pictured, said: “The start to the year demonstrates the strength and diversity of the group and we are pleased to reiterate our guidance for the full year.
“Whilst the macro environment remains uncertain, we look ahead with continued confidence in our plans to deliver on our strategy and outperform the industry.”
Ms Byng-Thorne, who is widely regarded as the architect of Future’s success, is to step down from her role by the end of this year.
She is credited with transforming Future from a loss-making, mainly UK business when she joined 10 years ago into an international group worth around £2bn and with 250 titles.
