FT chief nets pay rise as readers sign up to digital subscriptions

JOHN RIDDING, the chief executive of the Financial Times, was awarded a £510,000 pay rise last year as the publisher attracted digital subscribers.

Newly published accounts show that the highest paid director of The Financial Times Limited, Mr Ridding, received a total compensation of £2.6m last year.

The 25pc increase came on top of a restatement of his pay for 2016. Mr Ridding’s compensation for the prior year was revised upward by £367,000 from less than £1.7m to more than £2m.

A spokesman said the revision was the result of an “omission” in the 2016 accounts but declined to provide details. The FT is owned by the Japanese publisher Nikkei.

Mr Ridding received a further sharp pay rise in 2017 after the FT reported a 10pc increase in digital subscribers to 714,000.

The increase in subscription revenues slightly more than matched declining print advertising and newstand sales of the FT. Combined turnover in that segment of the publisher’s business increased 1pc to £245.7m.

Sales of services such as digital advertising and events meanwhile increased by 11pc to £75.8m. It meant overall revenues rose 3pc to £321.4m.

The increased turnover was not reflected in higher profits for Financial Times Ltd, however. Rising staff costs and foreign exchange losses meant operating profit was down 40pc to £4m. At the pre-tax level there was a 30pc fall to £4.7m.

The FT said earlier this year that as a group of businesses its profits increased during 2017. A spokesman said that the accounts filed at Companies House “do not provide the full picture of the FT’S accounts since we don’t provide consolidated earnings for our global businesses”.

The publisher declined to provide details of which of the businesses within its group structure had delivered profit growth. Its holding company has subsidiaries in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore, as well as a personal finance arm and a majority share in a branded content agency.

The FT’S spokesman said: “In 2017, the FT reached the highest paid-for readership in its 130-year history.

“It grew both revenues and profits, while winning awards for its quality journalism and investing in new products and services.”

Nikkei bought the FT from the FTSE 100 education publisher Pearson three years ago for £844m. Mr Ridding led the FT through the sale and is now paid comfortably more than Pearson’s chief executive John Fallon, on £1.8m.