Digital subscribers boost Financial Times revenue and profit

The Financial Times has reported a boost in 2011 revenue and profits, helped by a "strong and accelerating growth in digital readership".

Parent company Pearson announced in its end-of-year results today that FT Group revenues rose six per cent to £427m in 2011 and profits at the newspaper group were up 27 per cent to £76m.

Digital subscriptions to the Financial Times were up 29 per cent year on year to 267,000 - representing 44 per cent of total paid circulation.

FT.com registered users grew by 33 per cent to more than four million by the end of 2011 and mobile now accounts for 19% of traffic to the website.

The group said combined paid print and digital circulation reached 600,000 in 2011, the highest circulation in the history of the FT, and that at the end of 2011, digital subscribers exceeded print circulation in the US for the first time.

However, Pearson said the FT Group's profits would be lower in the coming year, in part because of "further actions to accelerate the shift from print to digital".

Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino said: "The external environment provides a testing backdrop for these results, and all our industries face some degree of turbulence.

"But our strategy and long-term planning for change have helped us to another good year to add to our record of persistent out-performance. We believe those qualities, combined with the commitment and innovation of our people, will continue to serve our customers and our shareholders well."

Across all of Pearson, digital accounted for a third of the group's total turnover, up 18 per cent year on year to £2bn.

Total group revenue stood at £5.86bn - up four per cent on the previous year - with operating profit up 10 per cent to £942m over the same period.

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