Future dips as firm stalls over Byng-Thorne’s heir

SHARES in Future sank into the red over fears that the publishing empire and its boss Zillah Byng-Thorne face a tough year ahead.

The FTSE 250 magazine publisher behind Marie Claire, Country Life and FourFourTwo fell 2.5pc, or 33p, to 1267p after City analysts warned trading in the next six months will be ‘difficult’.

In a note to clients, Stifel cut its target price on the stock to 2150p from 2400p.

The analysts warned that share price growth was likely to be limited over the short term given the uncertainties surrounding a change of leadership and its merger and acquisition strategy.

Future announced in September that its long-standing chief executive Byng-Thorne will step down by the end of 2023.

She took the helm in 2014 and is credited for transforming the magazine publisher from a £30m business on the brink of collapse to a £2bn empire of 250 titles.

But with a replacement yet to be found and the publisher’s shares down nearly 67pc this year, investors will be keen for a turnaround in fortunes.

In the final trading session of the year, the FTSE 100 was down 0.8pc, or 60.98 points, to 7451.74 and the FTSE 250 fell 0.8pc, or 143.45 points, to 18,853.

Investors in London’s blue-chip index could take comfort in the fact that the FTSE 100 finished the year 0.9pc higher than the previous 12 months.

But it was a different story for the FTSE 250, which lost 19.5pc in 2022, its worst year since 2008.

Retail stocks were a mixed bag with the coming weeks a key test to see how they performed over the festive period. First out of the blocks will be Next, which delivers its post-Christmas trading update on Thursday.

Next has already priced in a 2pc drop in sales for the last three months of 2022, compared with a year earlier.

Its shares are down 30.3pc this year, and investors will be hoping for better fortunes.

This year saw the retail industry face rising inflation and interest rates against plummeting consumer confidence.

Some fared worse than others, with the online furniture retailer Made and yummy-mummy fashion chain Joules among the biggest casualties.

Stifel said UK consumer confidence should bounce back but such gains were under threat from further falls in household spending, which could prolong a recovery until 2024.

The broker also pointed towards Next, discount retailer B&M and Moonpig, the online greetings card and gifting company, as worthwhile investments. Shares in Next rose 0.9pc, or 54p, to 5806p, while B&M fell 0.3pc, or 1.1p, to 411.3p and Moonpig slid 1.5pc, or 1.7p, to 110.3p.

Housebuilders dragged the bluechip index down after house prices fell for the fourth month in a row.

Barratt Developments slid 3.1pc, or 12.5p, to 396.8p, Persimmon sank 3pc, or 38p, to 1217p and Taylor Wimpey dropped 2.1pc, or 2.15p, to 101.65p.

Mid-cap housebuilder Redrow was also down 3pc, or 13.8p, to 453.8p while Rightmove, the property website, dipped by 2.5pc, or 13p, to 511.4p.

Elsewhere, Inspirit Energy said that it will suspend the trading of its shares from Tuesday following audit delays.

The group’s auditors asked for more time to check the final results for the year to June, meaning yesterday’s deadline to publish the annual report and accounts will be missed.

Inspirit Energy said it expects this to be completed by next Friday. Shares plunged 23.8pc, or 0.01p, to 0.02p.