Job loss risk at Bath-based Future Publishing

[Exoddus]

As I live in the South-West of England I saw this on my local BBC news.

Job loss risk at Bath-based Future Publishing as company moves to digital

Magazine publisher Future Publishing said it could not rule out job losses as part of cost-cutting measures.

The firm, which employs about 900 staff in Bath, wants to save up to £2.5m after its three-monthly figures were "below expectations".

It said the company's business model was still "primarily geared towards print" and it needed to be better aligned towards digital publication.

A spokesman would not confirm how many jobs were at risk.

"Inevitably there will be some headcount reduction but we haven't got any specific number in mind," he said.
'New games consoles'

"It's an ongoing programme as we re-shape the business to take advantage of new opportunities - we recently streamlined our senior management structure - and we're simply bringing the next phase of that activity forward."

Chief executive, Mark Wood, said the company was seeing "encouraging trends" ahead of new games consoles being released and that he anticipated significant revenue and profit growth in the coming year.

BBC West business correspondent Dave Harvey said while most publishers had struggled with the digital revolution, Future has managed to create websites which are both popular and commercial.

"Their problem may be a reflection of what's happening to the wider games industry and the competition from free games and apps," he added.

In the three months up to June, Future Publishing saw a 24% year-on-year grown with advertising revenues approaching 60% from digital markets.

Digital edition revenues for tablet computers are also up by 50% on a year ago, the report also mentions.

Source BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-23406748

Future Publishing blames profit warning on wait for PS4 and Xbox One

Up to 50 jobs at risk as advertisers hold off committing their budgets until the launch of games consoles.

Future Publishing is to cut as many as 50 jobs, after issuing a profit warning due as the games sector stagnates while the market holds off for the launch of the Xbox One and PS4.

Future, which publishes official titles for Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo, saw its share price sink almost 12% on the back of the warning issued on Thursday.

The company said that it expects profits to be about £8m this year, analysts at Numis had been forecasting a figure of £9.7m.

The company said that it is "not satisfied" with the pace of improvement in its business and announced it is to make £2m to £2.5m in cost savings to improve its financial performance this year.

This means that about 40 to 50 of Future's 1,000 employees face being cut, with savings also being made by not filling roles of those who leave and finding efficiencies elsewhere in the business.

"We are disappointed to miss our target for the full year and as a result we are bringing forward plans to reduce legacy print costs and improve operating margins in the period ahead," said Mark Wood, chief executive of Future.

Future is blaming advertisers in the gaming sector holding off from committing budgets because spend is being targeted at the launch of Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's next PlayStation.

"We see encouraging trends across the business for the final quarter and the year ahead, including in the games sector in the run up to major new console launches later this year, and anticipate delivering significant revenue and profit growth in the coming year," he said.

Future said that the trading in the three months to the end of June was "below expectations", despite digital revenues growing by 24% year-on-year.

Almost 60% of Future's ad revenues now come from digital advertising, and digital edition revenues from iPads and other tablets are up 50% year-on-year.

Source The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/ju ... 4-xbox-one

[Roareye]

Wow. That sucks, man. I wonder if the GamesMaster magazine will be affected or if they'll try and focus it on other print publications.

Clearly it would be unwise of them to try and cull the online team, as they've just mentioned that is where their media has to head due to the change in the way people read their stuff.

I hope they see their finances balance out.