Future hope future not gloomy despite sales shortfall

British magazine publisher Future worried its band of investors today by revealing that sales have fallen short of expectations since the start of April.

Shares in the Bath-based publisher of titles including Xbox and Guitar World slumped more than 7% after it adopted a cautious stance to the short-term outlook.

Chief executive Greg Ingham said the second-half performance of the group was likely to be affected “to some degree” by consumers reining in their spending habits.

Future posted a 3% hike in underlying profits to £12.8m (€19.1m) during the six months to March 31, giving the group the confidence to pay a maiden interim dividend of 0.5p a share.