Property magazine sold for €2.3m

A couple who bought a magazine title for a “pittance” have landed a £1.5m (€2.3m) windfall after selling it a decade later, it emerged today.

The UK’s fifth largest magazine publisher Future Network bought Spanish Homes Magazine from Roger and Susan Faulks, who acquired it in 1993 when it was just a few issues old.

Mr Faulks said the London-based magazine had grown during the 1990s as Britons started to take advantage of cheaper property prices in Spain.

He described it as a “directory” for Spanish property contacts: “There seems to be an endless appetite for British people to vacate this country for all sorts of reasons.”

Mr Faulks said they were now now considering using the money to buy a London restaurant for their son, who is a chef.

Spanish Homes Magazine is a bi-monthly publication that gives advice on everything from property prices and lawyers to mortgage facilities and removal services. During the year to April 30 it made profits of £400,000 (€606,400) on turnover of £740,000 (€1.1m).

The acquisition marks the first move by Future Network into the property magazine sector.

Future Network, which has 1,000 staff in four countries, publishes 98 specialist consumer magazines worldwide, including Guitar World and Guitar One. Around 41% of its revenues come from computer games titles such as its best-selling magazine Xbox.

Finance director John Bowman said there was an increasing number of property magazines covering homes in the sun and that Spanish Homes was the longest standing.

He said: “Most people are talking this year about things like bank borrowing rates and house prices in the UK. It is tempting for people to just tear it up and go abroad.”

Mr Bowman said this was a “good first step” into the property magazine market and was not likely to be the company’s last.

Future Network plans a number of changes to the title and is considering publishing it on a more frequent basis.

In March, the group posted a 21% hike in annual profits to £22.7m (€34.4m) on turnover of £182.7m (€277m) and unveiled a maiden dividend to shareholders.