Future Publishing takes axe to 400 posts following £35.4m loss
Future Publishing has announced the loss of more than 400 posts as it undergoes a major restructuring exercise after racking up a £35.4m loss in the year to September.
The jobs cull comes as the publisher seeks to reposition from print to digital, which now accounts for 63 per cent of its total ad revenue under the auspices of new chief executive Zillah Byng-Maddick.
Future is now left with just 577 of its original team of 980, representing a 40 per cent in the organisations total workforce behind a suite of popular websites and magazines including Gizmodo, Total Film and T3.
Byng-Maddick’s hand has been forced by a 20 per cent drop in revenues from £82.6m to £66m as print sales and advertising plummet. Print revenues were particularly hard hit, collapsing by 26 per cent from £52.2m to £38.7m whilst even digital and diversified revenues fell slightly, from £30.4m to £27.3m.
Commenting on the restructure Byng-Maddick said: “We have now largely completed the transformation programme. Our property portfolio has been rationalised, non-core businesses sold, our balance sheet strengthened and the cost-base materially reduced.”