Future's revenues rocket following acquisitions and US expansion

Future on Friday reported an almost 50% rise in annual revenue after it increased its presence in the US market through the acquisitions of Purch B2C and NewBay Media.

For the year ended 30 September, revenue increased to £124.6m, up by 48% compared to the prior year, as media revenue increased by 88% to £64.2m and adjusted EBITDA increased by 88% to £20.7m.

Consequently, the London-listed media company's profit before tax increased from £0.2m to £4.4m.

US revenue increased by 109% to £39.9m, of which 28% was organic growth, with new acquisitions Purch and NewBay driving the business sector to constitute 32% of total revenue, up from 23% the prior year.

Magazine revenue also grew by 20% following the acquisition and integration of the Haymarket titles, a move that the company said expands its portfolio into the sport and outdoor leisure sectors as well as providing additional diversification within the technology vertical.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, chief executive of Future, said: "Future has had an outstanding year. The financial results speak volumes for the successful execution of the group's focused strategy in leveraging its specialist media platform and diversifying its revenue streams, both geographically and across its product offering."

Cash and cash equivalents stood at £6.3m at 30 September, down from £10.1m at the same point last year, while the board recommended a final dividend of 0.5p per share.

"The year has started well with trading ahead of the board's expectations for this quarter, and while we recognise there is still much uncertainty for the remainder of the year, the board is confident that trading will continue the trends of the last year with strong growth," said Byng-Thorne.

Future’s shares were up 6.83% at 516.00p at 1109 GMT.