US Edition Specialist magazine publisher Future has managed to increase its advertising revenue by 1pc in the last quarter, though it warned of deteriorating trading conditions amid sharp declines in UK marketing spend.
The publisher, which has recently launched new hobby print titles such as The Knitter, saw revenue grow 1pc to £41m, boosted by exchange rates, for the three months to the end of December.
Future's focus on digital advertising paid off, with a 25pc increase in online income compensating for a 4pc decline in print advertising and 2pc fall in circulation. The group experienced a drop in the gaming sector – its biggest portfolio – but technology, music, movies and active were resilient at the shops and newsstands.
Group chief executive Steve Spring said its was trading in line with expectations, but she warned that the environment is continuing to worsen this year, with market visibility in the US decreasing in particular.
"Across the group, while we've seen tough conditions at newsstand, subscriptions continued to hold up well in the quarter and now represent almost half of magazine sales by volume," said she said.
Games Workshop, the tabletop fantasy battle-games company, saw its revenues rise 13.5pc to £61.2m for the six months to November 30, as the company swung into a £3.1m pre-tax profit from a £300,000 the year before.
"Those people looking for evidence about the health of the hobby we service will take great comfort from the UK achieving sales growth in all three channels – independent retailers, direct via telephones and our web store, and our own Hobby centres," said chief executive Mark Wells. "As a niche business we do not usually suffer or benefit from, macro-economic factors."
However, he added that it would be foolish not to take the recession into account, emphasising that a tight control would be maintained over costs and margins. The group opened 14 Hobby centres during the period and closed eight, taking the total number of stores to 340.
Separately, Hornby, the maker of Scalextric, said it experienced Christmas trading up on last year, as parents turned to the toymaker for stocking-fillers such as its Harry Potter Hogwarts Express trainset. Other franchises, including The Italian Job, The Simpsons, Transformers, Starsky & Hutch and Batman, also sold well in December.
Chairman Neil Johnson said raising the prices of its trainsets and model toys was largely "accepted by the market", though the owner of Airfix and Corgi model toys, experienced a difficult autumn period as retailers were anxious not to retain unnecessary stock.
Hornby, which also sells James Bond and Lewis Hamilton toy racing tracks, said orders in the coming weeks would make a strong end of the year, but the poor autumn trading would mean results at the lower end of analyst forecasts.