Shares in Future climbed nearly 14 percent on Thursday morning after the media group said it returned to revenue growth in its second quarter as its Go Compare price comparison site and magazine business performed better than expected.
The London-listed company said its sales improved in the first half of the year thanks to the “resilient performance” of magazines under the Future brand, including Marie Claire, Homes & Gardens and Who What Wear.
It also experienced growth in B2B, although some of the success was offset by broader economic headwinds, which hit its affiliate products and digital ad revenue.
Despite magazines proving popular, website users were still down year-on-year, the company said.
Future is currently pursuing a “growth acceleration strategy,” launched late last year, in a bid to revive its weak share price, which has fallen 46 percent over the past year. It has created three business units: B2C, Go Compare and B2B.
“The reorganization will make the group more flexible and less complex, enabling faster execution of the strategy to deliver improved growth,” Future said.
The British company is on track to meet expectations for the full financial year, subject to foreign exchange rates, it added in an update to markets on Thursday.
Future has previously guided for low single-digit revenue growth at the end of 2024.
In February, the FTSE 250 stock reported improved earnings in its first quarter but gave no figures. Profits fell by almost a fifth to £138m at the end of last year.
AJ Bell chief investment officer Russ Mold said today’s announcement will bring some much-needed relief to shareholders.
He said: “The company’s price comparison site GoCompare, which was seen as an odd fit when it was acquired in 2021, has provided some useful diversification at a time when advertising markets are difficult.
“Future built its success on buying up specialty magazine titles cheaply and plugging them into its existing platform to monetize their content and brands through a mix of digital advertising, e-commerce and getting readers to click through to retailers and events However, a decline in both marketing spend and the number of users on its various websites has thrown the work off.
“The company is seen as a victim of AI because there is an increasing risk that people will only use ChatGPT to ask about various topics rather than searching for articles on Google – resulting in a decrease in traffic to its websites.
“It is encouraging to see the company investing in its strongest brands and this appears to have some benefit in terms of direct digital advertising in the US,” added Mould.
