4 October 2017

Future plc

Pre-close full year trading update

Future plc (LSE: FUTR, "the Group"), the global platform for specialist media, has today published a pre-close trading update for the 12 months to 30 September 2017.

Overall trading for the year has been positive and it is anticipated that results for the full year will be ahead of the Board's expectations.

The Group has achieved good growth in operating profitability and has benefitted from strong cash conversion in the period, with year-end leverage less than 1x adjusted EBITDA.

The Group's Media division is performing well with fast revenue growth, particularly in eCommerce and events.

The Group's Magazine division has benefited from the added scale and operational efficiencies of the Imagine Publishing, Team Rock and Home Interest acquisitions.

The integration of Home Interest, acquired in early August, is progressing well and is expected to be fully completed by the end of this calendar year. Home Interest is trading in line with expectations.

The acquisitions made throughout the year and the strong growth of eCommerce and events, reinforces the Group's strategy to build a platform business with diversified revenue streams.

The Group expects to publish its full year results for the year ended 30 September 2017 on 24 November 2017.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive Officer said:

"We have delivered growth in both operating profitability and cash conversion, driven by strong revenue growth in eCommerce and events.

"The three acquisitions we have made during this financial year have further strengthened and diversified our revenue streams, as we continue to build a global platform for specialist media with data at its heart."

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About Future:

The Media division focuses on being at the forefront of digital innovation with three complementary revenue streams: e-commerce, events and digital advertising. It operates in a number of sectors including the high growth technology and games markets and has a number of leading brands including TechRadar, PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, The Photography Show, Generate and Golden Joysticks.

The Magazine division is specialist and brand-led, with over 100 publications. The Magazine portfolio spans Technology, Games, Music, Film, Photography, Creative & Design, Field Sports and Science & Knowledge. Its market-leading titles include T3, Total Film, How It Works, Edge and All About History. The division also publishes over 440 bookazines per year with a total global circulation of 1.2 million.