Future doubles dividend after profit surges
Future reported that its full-year profits almost tripled on the back of a leap in revenue on Friday, as the company hiked its final dividend.
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The publisher booked a profit before tax of £12.7m for the 12 months ended 30 September, up 189% compared to the year before, after revenue rose 70% to £221.5m.
Future proposed a final dividend of 1p per share, double the amount it paid out last year.
The FTSE 250-listed company said the surge in turnover was largely due to the performance of its higher-margin media division, which saw its online audience grow by 44%, or 31% in terms of its like-for-like portfolio.
Stateside growth was a major factor behind the strong results, with US media revenue increasing from £29.5m to £104.5m following the acquisition of Purch and organic growth in ecommerce and digital display advertising.
Since the start of its new financial year, the company has acquired print-led consumer magazine and digital publisher TI Media for £140m, and signed a contract to purchase content creator Barcroft Studios.
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said: "The proposed acquisition of TI Media announced post year-end will bring complementary new verticals along with an array of opportunities to further leverage our proprietary technology platform and develop new digital monetisation models and geographic expansion across the TI Media portfolio.
"The current year has started very positively with continuing strong growth. As a consequence, we expect the full year to be ahead of the board's previous expectations."
Future shares were up by 1.33% at 1,473.40p at 0810 GMT.