FNET Future

RNS Number:6012M
Future Network PLC
21 June 2000

                      ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

                          Trading Update

*   Business is on track to meet ambitious growth plans for 2000
    
*   Period of strong Underlying Profits growth and substantial
    investment in new launches
    
*   UK launch of Business 2.0 exceeds expectations, Italy launch
    brought forward from 2001 to October this year
    
*   New title launches and acquisitions increase regular magazines
    portfolio to 127
    
*   International expansion continues with acquisition in Poland,
    subsidiaries now in seven countries
    
*   Internet properties currently attracting 4.9 million monthly
    unique visitors, Internet revenues at end May over 300% up on
    first half of 1999
    
*   Five new web networks added in the UK, US and in Germany
    

The Future Network plc (LSE: FNET), the international specialist
consumer magazine and online publisher, held its inaugural Annual
General Meeting today (21 June 2000) at which Greg Ingham, Chief
Executive made the following comments about current trading:

"We're pleased to announce that the business is on course to
achieve its ambitious growth plans laid out at the time of our
Final Results in March. The strong Underlying Profit growth has
enabled us to invest substantially in new projects as planned,
both on the Internet and in magazines.

"Trading in the first five months of 2000 has continued the trends
seen towards the end of 1999, with strong growth from Business 2.0
in the US and from our Internet related magazines and online
activities offsetting investment in Germany and the temporary
weakness in the gaming sector as the games industry awaits the
launch of PlayStation 2 in the autumn of this year.  The pace of
technological change continues to offer numerous opportunities for
specialist media companies such as Future, both in terms of
Internet activities and in providing new opportunities for
magazines.

"We have continued to capitalise on these opportunities in the
first five months of this year, adding a further 16 titles to our
portfolio.  This brings the total number of magazines published to
127 across the Group, representing some 5.6 million copies per
month.  New launches in the period reflect the continued consumer
interest in technology and included titles such as Maximum Linux
and DigitalFoto in the US, T3 in Germany, MP3 Magazine, Internet
Investor and Linux Format in the UK and Jeux Video Magazine and
Internet Pratique in France.

"Whilst the new magazines have typically performed well, the most
significant launch in the period was, without doubt, the launch in
May of the UK version of Business 2.0, our highly successful
magazine for the new economy.  This launch surpassed our
expectations, with the first issue recording the highest
advertising revenue of any Future launch, including the US
version.

"Business 2.0 in the US continues to be the fastest growing
magazine in the Future portfolio, last month it moved from being a
monthly to a twice monthly publication and plans are already in
place for further launches of Business 2.0 in Germany and France
later in the year.  As a result of the successful reception
Business 2.0 has received from consumers and advertisers alike, we
have decided to increase our investment in the US through the
launch in the Autumn of a new work/lifestyle magazine as well as
bringing forward the planned 2001 launch of Business 2.0 in Italy
to October this year.

"In addition to launches, we have also taken advantage of several
opportunities to expand the Group by acquisition during the
period.  The most significant of these were the acquisition of
four consumer technology and rock music magazines from Dennis
Publishing and the acquisition of our former licensee in Poland,
Silver Shark SP z.o.o, which continues our international expansion
and brings the total number of countries in which we have wholly-
owned subsidiaries to seven.  Whilst we anticipate that the
majority of our investment in 2000 will focus on organic growth
opportunities, we continue to review acquisition targets and will
pursue those opportunities that we believe can effectively bring
market or geographic advantages to the Group.

"The Internet continues to have a significant impact on the group
at a number of different levels.  Firstly, as already stated, the
growth of consumer interest in the Internet itself has led to a
number of opportunities for new magazine launches, which we are
pursuing, particularly in Europe.  In addition, the Internet is
also proving to be a significant marketing tool for promoting our
existing magazines and during the first half of this year we
recorded our millionth subscription order placed over the Internet
in the US.

"However it is our online activities themselves, and our ability
to generate advertising and e-commerce revenues from them, that
present the most exciting opportunities in this area.  I am
pleased to report that our online revenues have continued to grow
month on month so far this year. As at the end of May, Internet
revenues were already over 300% ahead of the pro forma revenues
for the first six months of last year.  We are very confident of
meeting our online revenue targets for the year as a whole.

"To date this year we have added five new web networks to our
online activities, covering the UK and German launches of our
highly successful US games network, dailyradar.com; the launch of
a digital/internet music site in the US called
planetrevolution.com; and the UK and US launches of our computer
music web network, intermusic.com.  In addition, our UK football
web network has been redesigned and relaunched under the Total
Football brand and in April we acquired two web sites,
reelscreen.co.uk and reelfinder.co.uk, which target the UK film
industry and British film enthusiasts respectively.

"As a result of these launches and other promotional activity,
Internet traffic across the group continues to grow and now stands
at over 4.9 million unique visitors per month and 83 million page
impressions.  Thanks to our business model and the highly
effective promotional opportunities via our magazines, the costs
of attracting this traffic remains very small relative to our
peers.

"With technology providing so many compelling opportunities in our
markets and our network structure enabling us to swiftly
capitalise on individual successes across a range of territories,
we remain confident and excited about our prospects for 2000 and
beyond."


For more information:

Greg Ingham, Chief Executive       01225 442244
The Future Network plc

James Longfield/Harriet Keen       0207 357 9477
Hogarth Partnership


About The Future Network Plc

Future was founded in the UK in 1985. Today it publishes over 127
magazines worldwide and has extensive online activities attracting
the attention of 4.9 million unique visitors and generating over
83 million page views per month. It is the world's fastest growing
major publisher; the leading publisher of video games and home
computing magazines in the UK, France, Italy, Poland and the US;
and ranks as the fourth largest magazine publisher in the UK.
Future employs over 1,500 people in offices in Bath, London, San
Francisco, New York, Paris, Milan, Munich, Rotterdam and Wroclaw.
Future was floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 1999 and
has a current market capitalisation of over #1 billion.

END


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