- Future says audience numbers down
- Reiterates full-year guidance
- Shares down nearly 60% since start of 2022
Publishing firm Future (FUTR) reported in its latest update that it is seeing a slowdown in audience numbers but, for now, still hopes to report underlying profit in line with expectations for the 12 months to 30 September 2023.
This fall in the number of eyeballs scanning its publications and websites - which include Country Life, Marie Claire UK, GamesRadar+ as well as the Go Compare comparison site - has a knock-on effect on advertising revenue.
The shares slipped 3% to £15.55, extending losses since the start of 2022 to nearly 60%. Future has been hit by a shift away from growth stocks - the company having previously grown rapidly through acquisitions and enjoyed a series of earnings upgrades - as well as well-founded concerns about the impact of a weak economic backdrop on the ad market. The planned departure of CEO Zillah Byng-Thorne before the end of this year also hasn’t helped.
Future’s model has been built on acquiring specialist magazine titles cheaply and plugging them into a centralised platform to generate revenue from their content and brands through a mix of digital advertising, e-commerce and readers clicking through to partnered retailers and events.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR FUTURE SHARES?
The departing Byng-Thorne said: ‘The start to the year demonstrates the strength and diversity of the group, and we are pleased to reiterate our guidance for the full year. Whilst the macro environment remains uncertain, we look ahead with continued confidence in our plans to deliver on our strategy and outperform the industry.’
Writing in December, investment bank Berenberg commented: ‘Future continues to operationally outperform peers due to its superior platform and position in the value chain - a trend we believe continues in 2023. Nevertheless, we do not expect Future's shares to move in the right direction with sentiment to be driven by macro-economic factors until this thesis begins to be proven at the first half results in mid-2023.
‘Longer term, we continue to believe Future's platform is on the right side of the structural evolution of the advertising landscape.’
