Future profits down as digital grows

Future has reported a fall in profits for the first half of 2011.

The publisher of Official Nintendo, Official Xbox, Official PlayStation, CVG and a host of other publications reported revenue of 68.8m for the first half of 2011, down four per cent over the 71.4m posted in H1 2010.

Pre-tax profits reached 1.2m, down over the 2.2m recorded in 2010.

However, the drops are all in-line with Future’s expectations. Meanwhile, the company’s digital revenue – which includes money generated from mobile – increased 30 per cent year-on-year.

Future CEO Stevie Spring said: "Trading in the first half was challenging, yet we’ve seen six months of an accelerating pace of change as the arrival of powerful mobile devices increases digital content consumption. The decline in profits includes maintained planned investment, particularly in digital, as we continue to transition our business for the future.

"Our digitised content revenues grew 30% in H1 and online now represents 34% of our commercial advertising and, with a tenfold increase in digital edition sales, an increasing percentage of our consumer circulation revenues. Significantly, our digital activities were profitable for the first time this half.

"Encouraged by that progress, the Board has maintained the interim dividend despite an expectation that the trading conditions for the rest of 2011 will remain challenging."