Consumer magazine publisher Future has recorded a boost in operating profit over the year to September while overall group and magazine revenue has declined.
The publisher of more than 50 print titles, apps and websites – including Total Film, SFX and PC Gamer – saw operating profit rise by 188 per cent from £0.8m the year before to £2.3m.
E-commerce revenues were said to be up by 187 per cent year-on-year.
Revenue for the media division, which represents 41 per cent of the total, was up by 14 per cent year-on-year to £23.9m.
Brands techradar.com and PC Gamer recorded revenue growth of 49 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.
Magazine revenue fell overall from £38.9m to £35.1m.
Total revenue was down by £0.8m to £59m.
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said: “Our strategy to create a leading global specialist media platform with data at its heart, monetised through diversified revenue streams, has delivered extremely positive results with Media division revenue growth of 14 per cent year-on-year.
“We focus on content that connects with our substantial and growing audience base and monetise their needs through increasingly diversified revenue streams, which include e-commerce, event sponsorship, digital advertising, licensing, content publishing, subscriptions, newstrade sales and event ticketing.
“We are also taking advantage of the fragmented print market and have substantially increased our scale and sector coverage with a number of acquisitions – most notably Imagine Publishing in October 2016. Imagine transforms the scale of the business and brings significant operational synergies and cash generation opportunities.”
The financial report follows Future’s acquisition of Imagine Publishing in October in a deal worth £15.9m.
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