Future's Ingham Out As Results Disappoint

Author: by David Jenkins, Simon Carless

British based game-related magazine and website firm Future PLC has announced that long-running CEO Greg Ingham has decided to step down with immediate effect, as the company announced a loss of $22.6m in its latest round of disappointing results. Ingham will be succeeded by Stevie Spring, most recently Chief Executive of Clear Channel UK, on July 3rd, and will remain at the company to oversee her transition, commenting: “I have been at Future since 1988. That’s a long stretch in one company. I wish now to do something different in my business life and to broaden my experiences. I am sure this is the right decision, both for me and the business.” At the same time, officials announced the company’s interim results for the six months ended March 31st, during which a loss before tax of £12.1 million ($22.6m) was reported – compared to a profit of £11.1 million ($20.7m) at the same time the previous year. The poor results were expected, though perhaps not to such a great degree, and the company, which is the dominant magazine publisher in the UK with magazines such as Edge and the official magazines for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo, now announcing a curtailing of its previous policy of rapid expansion. Future plc, which also publishes a range of other non-game print magazines, holds the licenses to official Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft magazines in the UK, and also owns U.S. print properties such as Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer, and PSM and websites Next-Gen and GamesRadar through its Future Network subsidiary. However, the firm is extremely heavily leveraged in print publishing and advertising, currently a declining market. According to Chairman Roger Parry: "We are today announcing the revision of our previously stated target to double the size of the business by 2008. We continue to seek growth but the focus going forward will be on organic growth and operational effectiveness." He also indicated that operating profits will be reduced over the next 18 months as the firm explores "a number of organic development projects".