Future PLC (LSE:FUTR), the specialist media group, has held its full-year guidance despite an 8% drop in first-half revenue, pointing to improving trends across its divisions in the second quarter.
The company said it still expects a mid to low single-digit organic revenue decline for the year to September 2026, with adjusted EBITDA margins of 25% to 27%.
Company-compiled consensus from seven analysts points to full-year revenue of £710 million and EBITDA of £183 million.
Revenue for the six months to 31 March fell to £349.1 million from £378.4 million a year earlier, with organic revenue down 6%.
The decline was driven by previously flagged pressures in programmatic advertising and e-commerce affiliate income, both high-margin revenue streams, which dragged the adjusted EBITDA margin down five percentage points to 24%.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 24% to £83.3 million, while statutory operating profit dropped 53% to £32.7 million.
The picture was brighter in the second quarter, however, with all three divisions showing sequential improvement.
Go.Compare revenue, which fell 6% across the half, was down just 3% in Q2 and returned to growth in March as the impact of elevated car insurance quote volumes in the prior year period faded.
B2B revenue, down 7% organically for the half, narrowed its decline to 2% in the second quarter, with strong performance in the technology vertical offsetting weakness in education, retail and financial services.
The B2C division, Future's largest, saw a 6% organic revenue decline for the period, though growth in direct advertising and other revenue lines partially offset the programmatic and affiliate headwinds.
Chief executive Kevin Li Ying said the group was making meaningful progress in positioning itself for an AI-driven media landscape, highlighting new products including Future Optic, a generative AI optimisation service for brands, and Signal, a multichannel ecommerce solution.
Future acquired SheerLuxe, a UK digital publishing group combining traditional media with the creator economy, in January for an initial consideration of £39.9 million.
The group returned £52.9 million to shareholders during the half through buybacks and dividends, pushing net debt to £314.1 million and leverage to 1.6 times EBITDA from 1.3 times at the prior year end.
Future said it would focus on reducing net debt in the second half.
The board said it believed the group was fundamentally undervalued and was actively focused on realising value from assets that do not deliver a strong platform effect.