FT Group operating profit rises to £49m for 2012

The Financial Times reported a 4 per cent increase in revenue to £443m in its end of year results this morning.

According to parent company Pearson’s latest accounts the FT Group also saw its adjusted operating profit rise 7 per cent to £49m.

Digital and services revenues now account for 50 per cent of FT Group revenues with digital subscriptions now exceeding print subscriptions, as first announced by the company in July 2012.

Digital subscriptions rose 18 per cent to almost 316,000 in 2012, with 3.5 million FT web app users. Total global print circulation of the FT currently stands at around 275,000 a day (down 14 per cent year on year in January 2013. When known free (bulk) copies are removed from the equation FT digital subs are now around 70,000 copies ahead of paid-for print sales.

Mobile devices are said to account for 30 per cent of FT.com traffic and 15 per cent of new subscriptions.

In its results the company said: “We expect the FT Group to benefit from continued growth in digital and subscription revenues in 2013 but advertising to remain weak and volatile with profits reflecting further actions to accelerate the shift from print to digital.”

Last month the FT announced it was planning a net reduction of 25 editorial jobs as it moves ahead with plans to accelerate the shift from print to digital.

Parent company Pearson today reported revenues of £6.1b, up from £5.8bn last year, and adjusted operating profits down 2 per cent to £936m.

Read the full 2012 results statement for Pearson here.

Topics in this article : Financial Times