A strong performance by price comparison website Go.Compare has helped its Bath-headquartered parent company Future return to growth following a slowdown last year.
Go.Compare has been a standout performer for global media group Future since its acquisition three years ago for £594m – in a marked contrast to the core publishing and digital arms of the business.
Future, which was transformed under previous CEO Zillah Byng-Thorne from a loss-making mainly UK business into an international group worth around £2bn and with 250 titles, struggled last year in a more challenging advertising market.
Full-year revenues for the group, whose titles include Country Life, Classic Rock and Decanter, fell by 4% to £788.9m, with pre-tax profits tumbling by 19% to 138.1m
But in a trading update for the six months ended 31 March, Future said organic growth was back in positive territory as revenues improved.
This had been driven by a strong performance in Go.Compare, alongside good growth in B2B, and a resilient performance in its magazines business.
However, it warned that these gains had been offset by “a more challenging performance” in affiliate products and digital advertising as what it called macroeconomic pressures and low visibility continued to impact the wider sector.
It added that the growth acceleration strategy it outlined at the time of its full-year results last December was now underway, with “encouraging progress from the ‘hero’ brands”, which continued to outperform the wider brand portfolio.
There was also a stronger performance in US direct advertising, a key strategic initiative for the group.
The group is also accelerate its growth strategy through a reorganisation to create three business units to enhance its offer to audiences and partner – 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,” Future said in its trading update.
It added that it remained highly cash generative and cash conversion in the period had been strong.
As a result, it was on-track to deliver on expectations for the full year “subject to impact of foreign exchange translation”.
Future last year appointed Jon Steinberg, the former president of New York-based cable TV provider Altice USA’s news & advertising division, as Ms Byng-Thorne’s replacement.
The group will announce its half-year results on 16 May.
