Future PLC (LSE:FUTR) denied reports chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne has resigned but said she has indicated she plans to leave next year.
The publisher, which owns brands from Marie Claire and Country Life to TechRadar and Go-Compare, issued the statement in response to media speculation and a 16% drop in its shares.
With Byng-Thorne having joined the business in November 2013, the FTSE 250-listed company said she "remains committed to the business" but has "has informally indicated that she would like to step down by the end of 2023".
The former finance chief-turned interim CEO of AutoTrader parent Trader Media Group, Byng-Thorne was made chief executive of Future on April 1, 2014, following a period in which the group had churned through a succession of CEOs as it struggled for direction, launching lots of new titles, shuttering or disposing of many others, and closing down print titles in favour of website versions.
Byng-Thorne concentrated this policy into a focus on providing “intent-driven content”, ie the websites that people read as part of their online research in the minutes, days or weeks before going to make an online purchase.
READ: Future's path from a tiny computer games publisher to an ecommerce giant
Acquisitions were also focused on five subject areas she felt had more potential to allow this content: games and film, technology, music, photography and creativity.
From a low of 70.44p on the day she was appointed, the shares have climbed over 5,000% to a peak above 3,900p roughly a year ago, though they have retreated since to close at 1,657p at last Friday's close.
After Sky News reported on Sunday that industry insiders expect the CEO to step down in the second half of 2023, the shares tumbled over 15% to below 1,400p this morning.
Acquisitions during her time have included events and websites group Blaze Publishing, ‘bookazines’ publisher Imagine Publishing, events such as The London Bass Guitar Show and The London Drum Show, plus magazines and websites including Marie Claire, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, TV Times, Wallpaper, Woman’s Weekly, Sporting Rifle, Computer Music, MusicRadar.com, Total Guitar, Android Central, Windows Central and Horse & Hound.
Earlier this month, Future said it expects profits for the year to end-September to be at the top end of expectations, reflecting a "return to organic audience growth" in the second half and an improving affiliate performance, with the market expecting adjusted operating profit of £268.6mln (compared to the £112mln in the year before Byng-Thorne started).