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.