First half profits up for Future
But Games revenue down 17 per cent in UK, 20 per cent in US
Future Publishing has recorded first half operating profit of £3 million for the period ended March 31, up 15 per cent for the same period last year, although revenues were down 7 per cent to £71.4 million.
The specialist publisher said its Active, Technology and Music & Movies segments showed resilience during the period, but revenues from its Games portfolio were down 17 per cent in the UK and 20 per cent in the US.
"Our Games business had a more difficult first half, impacted by tough comparatives and a lack of impetus in both hardware and software sales that affected both advertising and circulation," offered CEO Stevie Spring.
"Given Games comprises nearly half of US revenue, this has hit our US business particularly hard in H1. However, we're improving our editorial and commercial focus, we're improving the efficiency of our games products, and we're continuing to innovate with new products in print, online and on-console."
The company said that traffic to computerandvideogames.com was up 65 per cent year-on-year, while TechRadar now has a monthly audience of nearly 1 million.
The company publishes official Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft magazines, as well as PC Zone and Edge.