November 3, 2011

FT digital subscribers up 30 per cent

Digital subscriptions at the Financial Times rose 30 per cent in the first nine months of 2011, according to parent company Pearson.

The FT now has 250,000 digital subscribers, while the number of registered users has risen 40 per cent to almost four million in the same period.

Mobile devices now account for 20 per cent of all traffic to FT.com and more than 15 per cent of new subscriptions. At the end of September the number of users of the new FT web app stood at 790,000.

Underlying revenue at the FT Group rose by 6 per cent in the first nine months of the year, Pearson announced in a nine-month interim management statement released this morning.

Commenting on the FT Group’s performance the company said: ‘Although macroeconomic uncertainty and volatility in financial markets contributed to tougher conditions for advertising in the third quarter, advertising revenues were broadly level after nine months.”

Overall Pearson reported underlying revenue growth of 1 per cent year on year in the first nine months, with operating profit up 13 per cent.

Pearson’s interim management statements do not supply figures on operating profit by division or an underlying figure for group profits.