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July 25, 2014

FT half-year results: Digital now makes up two-thirds of readership after 33 per cent rise to 455k subscribers

By William Turvill

Digital subscriptions of the Financial Times have increased by 33 per cent year on year to 455,000.

The newspaper today claimed a record total circulation – up 13 per cent in a year – with 677,000 readers across print and online.

In June, the FT newspaper recorded an average circulation of 220,532, down 14.68 per cent year on year.

The FT, which has more than 290,000 corporate users, said two-thirds of paying customers are now digital subscribers.

According to Pearson’s half-year results, nearly 50 per cent of the FT's total web traffic comes from mobile.

The Financial Times Group has this year become a part of Pearson’s ‘Professional’ division, which made a profit of £29m for the first half of 2014, 7 per cent down year on year on an underlying basis.

The Professional division reported an overall turnover of £519m, flat year on year.

As well as the Financial Times, Professional also includes the Economist, which is 50 per cent owned by Pearson.

In the first half of the year, increased investment in digital development and marketing, and declining print advertising revenue, meant its financial contribution fell “slightly”.

Circulation remained at 1.6m, as reported in the 2013 results, with digital subscriptions up 20 per cent.

Click here for the full Pearson results.

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