# Future plc
**Future plc** is a London-listed global specialist media group (LSE: FUTR) that operates around 175 brands across diversified verticals and makes money through three frameworks: advertising, eCommerce affiliate (products and price comparison), and Magazines (subscriptions and newstrade sale).[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) In the financial year to September 2025 it reported revenue of £739.2m and adjusted EBITDA of £223.4m, and in March 2026 its shares fell nearly 30% after it cut its margin outlook because of changes in Google's search ecosystem.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) • [2](https://www.reuters.com/business/uk-publisher-futures-shares-plummet-changes-google-search-traffic-hit-margins-2026-03-31/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Listing | London Stock Exchange, ticker FUTR.L[2](https://www.reuters.com/business/uk-publisher-futures-shares-plummet-changes-google-search-traffic-hit-margins-2026-03-31/) |
| Portfolio | c.175 brands[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) |
| FY 2025 revenue | £739.2m, down 6% reported and 3% organic from £788.2m[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) |
| FY 2025 profit | Adjusted EBITDA £223.4m (-7%)[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) |
| Audience | 317m monthly average website sessions[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) • [3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf) |
| Google dependence | Search's share of audiences fell from 67% in 2019 to 27%; AI Overviews now reach 50% of key SEO terms[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf) |
| Shareholder returns | £99.5m returned in FY 2025[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) |
| Leadership | Kevin Li Ying became CEO on 31 March 2025; Richard Hunting announced he would step down as chair at the February 2026 AGM[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) |
## What Future plc is
The group is organized around three segments. **B2C** encompasses over 150 consumer brands in content verticals from tech to gaming, sports, fashion and beauty, homes, entertainment, and knowledge.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) **Go.Compare**, a UK price comparison website and insurance wallet app, generates 61% of its revenue from car insurance, with the remainder from home, travel, van, pet, and other insurance products.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) The remainder is the **B2B** business, whose revenue fell 13% to £54.0m in FY 2025.[4](https://financialfilings.com/filings/future-plc/earnings-release/2025/9266709/)
Brands named in the company's own materials include [Marie Claire](https://www.edgepedia.org/marie-claire), WhoWhatWear, Kiplinger, Ideal Homes, and [PC Gamer](https://www.edgepedia.org/pc-gamer), all of which carry Future's Collab product.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
## How the business model works
Future monetizes the same specialist audiences three ways. Its advertising mix is shifting toward direct sales: direct advertising rose to 68% of total advertising in FY 2025, up 3 percentage points year on year, with the remainder programmatic.[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf) The distinction matters for resilience, because the March 2026 profit warning attributed the margin damage specifically to reduced visibility for the higher-margin programmatic and ecommerce streams.[2](https://www.reuters.com/business/uk-publisher-futures-shares-plummet-changes-google-search-traffic-hit-margins-2026-03-31/)
**eCommerce affiliate** revenue comes from products and price comparison, the framework that includes Go.Compare's insurance lead generation.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) **Magazines** revenue comes from subscriptions and newstrade magazine sale.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) Within B2B, newsletter revenue fell 12% to £32.0m in FY 2025.[4](https://financialfilings.com/filings/future-plc/earnings-release/2025/9266709/)
Geographically, US digital advertising was £96.8m in FY 2025, down 6% reported and 2% organically from £102.8m, representing 20% of digital advertising revenue.[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf)
## By the numbers
FY 2025 (year to end September 2025) showed a shrinking but still profitable business:
- Revenue £739.2m, down 6% reported and 3% organic.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
- [Adjusted EBITDA](https://www.edgepedia.org/adjusted-ebitda) £223.4m, down 7%.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
- Gross contribution margin 73%, up 2 percentage points, helped by an 11% fall in cost of sales to £200.5m.[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf)
- Overall audience declined 6%, driven by a decline in on-platform sessions.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
- £188.3m of cash generated; £99.5m returned to shareholders through the dividend and buybacks.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
## Google dependence by the numbers
Future's own presentation frames diversification as its central strategic metric: in 2019, 67% of audiences came from [Google Search](https://www.edgepedia.org/google-search), and at the FY 2025 results that figure was 27%.[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf) The earnings release gives a complementary framing: website sessions are 56% of the overall audience, with other sources including Google Discover and News, social, and email.[4](https://financialfilings.com/filings/future-plc/earnings-release/2025/9266709/)
The remaining exposure still moves the profit line. [AI Overviews](https://www.edgepedia.org/ai-overviews), Google's generative search answers, now reach 50% of Future's key SEO terms.[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf) In FY 2025 website sessions fell 10% year on year while total digital advertising revenue fell only 4%.[3](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf) By March 2026 the cushion was no longer sufficient: the company said deeper-than-expected changes in Google's search ecosystem reduced visibility for higher-margin programmatic advertising (ads sold via automated real-time auctions, not direct deals) and ecommerce revenue, and also drove pay-per-click cost inflation across the industry.[2](https://www.reuters.com/business/uk-publisher-futures-shares-plummet-changes-google-search-traffic-hit-margins-2026-03-31/)
## What changed in 2025–26: leadership, returns, and the March 2026 shock
**Leadership.** Kevin Li Ying joined the Future board on 31 March 2025 as CEO.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf) Chair Richard Hunting announced he would step down at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in February 2026.[1](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
**The March 2026 warning.** On 31 March 2026 Future lowered its full-year core profit margin outlook to 25–27% from previous expectations of around 30%, and said margins for the six months to 31 March 2026 would be 24–25%; its shares fell nearly 30%.[2](https://www.reuters.com/business/uk-publisher-futures-shares-plummet-changes-google-search-traffic-hit-margins-2026-03-31/)
## References
1. [Future plc Annual Report and Accounts FY 2025](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Annual-Report-and-Accounts-FY-2025-incl-Notice-of-AGM.pdf)
2. [UK publisher Future's shares plummet as changes in Google search traffic hit margins, Reuters (31 March 2026)](https://www.reuters.com/business/uk-publisher-futures-shares-plummet-changes-google-search-traffic-hit-margins-2026-03-31/)
3. [Future plc FY 2025 results presentation](https://futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-FY-2025-results-for-upload.pdf)
4. [Future PLC — Earnings Release 2025, Financial Filings](https://financialfilings.com/filings/future-plc/earnings-release/2025/9266709/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Consumer, retail, and media companies › Newspapers and news media*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
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