LONDON, UK (BRAIN) — Future Publishing, parent of Cyclingnews.com, BikeRadar.com, CyclingPlus magazine and other cycling titles, is reporting that its normalized revenues increased 3 percent in its recently concluded fiscal year. The company’s digital revenues were up 38 percent over the prior year and now make up 32 percent of total group revenue. Digital advertising now accounts for 59 percent of Future’s advertising revenue, passing what CEO Mark Wood called "an important transition point."
In the second half of its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, Future’s U.S. business began operating profitably for the first time.
Future publishes a variety of websites and magazines in a wide array of subject areas, including technology, music, gaming and sports. Across the titles, unique users were up 14 percent year on year to 57.7 million users a month. The largest growth was at Future’s TechRadar.com title, which gets 20 million users a month.
"Our digital revenue growth accelerated, with a 38 percent increase year-on-year, and we passed an important transition point with more than half our advertising revenues now digital. We have made real progress in reshaping the Future business, diversifying our digital revenues, making our U.S. operations profitable and building global digital brands,” said Mark Wood, Future's CEO.
Future's preliminary statement on its fiscal year results did not give specifics on the performance of its cycling titles, except to say that BikeRadar.com and CyclingNews.com are global leaders in their categories and that the company sees "further potential" for growth in its cycling titles, especially in the U.S. market.
The 3 percent revenue increase for the fiscal year was based on normalized results figures, which exclude revenues and costs relating to activities closed or divested between October 2011 and September 2013, but include any new activities launched in that period. Statutory (non-normalized) results showed Future had a 9 percent revenue decline in its recent fiscal year.
Future plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol FUTR. Its stock performance is tracked on the BRAIN Stock Chart.
