Future's outlook steady as first-half revenues slip

Digital and print media company Future said its expectations for the full year are unchanged, but its shares fell almost 6% as it reported lower first-half revenues.

In the half, group revenue was £30.2m, from £30.8m. The magazine division's portion fell 12% to £17m, which it said reflected the market's overall structural decline. The media division's share rose 15% to £13.2m.

The company booked a reduced pre-tax loss of £0.3m, from a loss of £1.3m a year ago, helped by exceptional-items charges falling to £0.5m, from £1.4m.

"This is an encouraging performance in the year to date, with recurring revenue streams now representing 25% of our total revenue," said chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne.

"We expect the trends seen in the first half to continue into the second half of the financial year," Byng-Thorne said in a statement.