LONDON, England (BRAIN) — Future plc, publisher of Cyclingnews.com, BikeRadar.com and a handful of cycling print publications including Cycling Plus, saw a decline in group revenue of 1 percent in its first financial half, even as digital revenue was up 33 percent year-on-year and now represents 25 percent of group revenues.
The company attributed the weak overall revenue performance to a decline in the "Games" market, where Future produces several key sites and magazine titles.
The company said its U.S. operations were on track for profitable this year. It also said that its total pageviews were up 38 percent, hitting 299 million a month.
Digital advertising now makes up 57 percent of total advertising, up from 47 percent a year ago.
"We experienced some difficult trading conditions in the first half, above all in the Games market, which has been in a trough ahead of new console releases from Microsoft and Sony," said CEO Mark Wood. "However, the first-half figures mask tremendous progress towards a predominantly digital business, reflected in a 33 percent growth in digital revenues."
The company's report did not break out performance of its cycling titles, but did note that its Sport & Auto division, which includes the cycling titles, "has continued to grow revenues, contribution and margin."
Future's normalized revenue for the first half was 49.4 million pounds ($74.28 million), compared with 50.1 million pounds in the first half last year.
Future is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol FUTR. The stock's performance is included in the BRAIN Industry Stock chart.
