Future, the Bath-based global platform for specialist media, has started closing a small number of its print and digital brands as it looks to return to growth this year.
The group, which operates around 230 brands in diversified markets, announced the move in a trading update to shareholders which also said its full-year results for 2024 were in line with previous expectations.
Future said the closures would include its external video production unit, selected events and a small number of its print and digital brands, which it did not name.
These ‘non-core or low to no-growth assets’ represented around £15m of annualised revenue and with margins below the group's average, it added.
Future, whose interests range from magazines and websites such as Country Life, Classic Rock and Decanter to the Go Compare insurance price comparison website, has grown exponentially over the past decade through a raft of strategic acquisitions and organic expansion, particularly in the US.
That has taken the one-time loss-making mainly UK business into an international group worth around £2bn.
However, growth has stalled recently, with pressure from the changing global media landscape and a tougher advertising climate.
In its pre-close trading update Future said it continued to make good progress executing its Growth Acceleration Strategy, adding that one of the pillars of the strategy launched last December was “portfolio optimisation”, which it described as “a continuous process to ensure the group is best positioned to deliver sustainable organic growth”.
The group's £45m share buyback programme announced in May was also progressing well with just over £30m repurchased to date, it added.
Future chief executive officer Jon Steinberg, who joined a year ago from New York-based cable TV provider Altice USA’s news & advertising division, said progress through the Growth Acceleration Strategy combined with the group’s return to organic growth and the stabilisation of its online audience trends, meant it would deliver a full-year performance in line with market expectations.
“Whilst we remain mindful of the macro backdrop and the ongoing evolution of the media landscape, including updates in the search market, the highly cash generative profile of the group and our cost base flexibility ensures we are well positioned as we look ahead,” he added.
Future said it would announce its full-year results on 5 December.
