Future Share Discussion Threads

[johnv] 05/11/2024 16:08

Just discovered on w8 Ben, that one covers all brokers.

[ochs] 05/11/2024 11:01

No, I'm pretty sure you'd need to complete it with each broker you use for US trading.

[johnv] 05/11/2024 09:53

Hi quick question, does a W- 8BEN filed with one UK broker cover you with other brokers?

[galatea99] 05/11/2024 07:36

Boardroom fight.

"The veteran entrepreneur Sir Peter Wood, one of the largest shareholders in Future, is seeking to oust the chairman of the £1 billion publisher behind Marie Claire after the abrupt resignation of its chief executive.

Shares in Future tumbled by almost a fifth last month when the FTSE 250 company unsettled investors by announcing that Jon Steinberg, 47, was stepping down as chief executive to return to the US only 18 months after taking on the role.

Wood, the founder of Direct Line, who holds a 6.10 per cent stake in Future, according to FactSet data, has told Richard Huntingford, the chairman, that he should stand down to avoid making “another mistake” when appointing a chief executive.

Wood, 77, has also contacted other large Future shareholders in an attempt to build support and to enable a new chairman to oversee the search for a new chief executive. “They’re all a bit disappointed but one large shareholder is totally supportive of my suggestion,” said Wood, who is prepared to become interim chairman.

Future’s magazines and websites include Country Life, Homes & Gardens, The Week and Metal Hammer.

Wood said he had “run out of patience” with Huntingford, 68, after his concerns about the risks of appointing a relocating chief executive went unheeded.

He said he was also frustrated with last month’s stock market communication announcing Steinberg’s resignation, which was “completely mishandled” and “didn’t explain anything” as well as causing a share price collapse.

Future stated last month that Steinberg had informed the board of his decision to step down later next year to relocate back to the US with his family.

He received a relocation fee of up to £260,000 to help with the cost of moving from New York to London with his wife and two children when he was appointed in April last year. He has a 12-month notice period and the board has begun a search for a replacement.

Wood believes that Kevin Li Ying, executive vice-president of Future’s new B2C (business to consumer) unit, would make a “fine choice provided he was supported by an excellent chairman”. Li Ying, Future’s former chief technology and product officer, is also a consultant to SPWOne, Wood’s investment vehicle.

Steinberg had been brought in by Future to replace Zillah Byng-Thorne, who spent almost a decade at the company and oversaw its £594 million takeover of the price comparison website GoCompare. Wood was the founder investor of GoCompare and remained chairman and the largest shareholder through to its sale in 2021.

Byng-Thorne, 49, is now the chief executive of Dignity, one of Britain’s two big funeral companies, which was taken private last year for about £789 million by a consortium including SPWOne.

Analysts at Peel Hunt have said Steinberg’s exit would “cast a shadow over the investment case until a successor is found”.

Shares in Future closed down by 19.2 per cent when his planned departure was announced but have since recovered some of those losses, closing up by 21p, or 2.4 per cent, at 903p on Monday.

Steinberg is credited with overseeing a “growth acceleration strategy”, under which Future added new ways of monetising content and closed less popular titles, including Total 911 and 3D World.

A spokesman for Future said: “The board has expressed its disappointment that Jon will be departing as CEO next year, but respects his personal decision to return to the US with his family. As it did when it appointed Jon, the nomination committee will conduct a thorough search process to identify another high-calibre successor.

November 05 2024, 12.01am

[jamessmith23] 21/10/2024 11:38

Aren't they generating 20% of the market cap per year in free cash flow? They have quite a lot of cash to be using

[alotto] 21/10/2024 10:23

Dead cat bounce
The amount of buyback is staggering
Couldn't they invest in the business instead? It seems they don't have opportunities to grow organically or make acquisitions and integrate successfully

[100egs] 21/10/2024 09:54

*JPMORGAN CUTS FUTURE PLC PRICE TARGET TO 1296 (1415) PENCE - 'OVERWEIGHT'

[johnv] 21/10/2024 08:48

Read somewhere that this has had a downgrade.

[alotto] 19/10/2024 15:35

Me too, no more than £6 and possibly back to 7-8.
It's highly likely we will go that low.

However I expect s dead cat bounce on Monday/Tuesday and not downside to £6.

[gripfit] 19/10/2024 12:21

I’m in at £6

[alotto] 19/10/2024 11:21

He founded his own company and sold it for 200 million dollars

[bookbroker] 19/10/2024 10:48

What did he achieve prior to this company?

[alotto] 19/10/2024 10:24

Jon Steinberg messed up his CV. Would you hire him as a CEO, knowing he can't deal with a bit of home sickness, or knowing he'd jump ship for more money? Or even worse, after messing up a company in just 18 months of tenure and being 'quietly' ousted?
As Charlie Munger said, reputation is like virginity, it is easier to preserve than getting it back.

[podgyted] 18/10/2024 22:07

The cult of the leader - pathetic - companies are run by teams.

Trumpet the return of Zillah with multi-million nil cost share options.

[galatea99] 18/10/2024 20:18

From The Times:

"Shares in Future slump as Jon Steinberg announces plan to quit
The media group’s chief executive has announced his plan to leave after only 18 months in the role

The American boss of Future, the listed British publishing house, has announced that he is quitting to return to the United States just 18 months after taking the top job.

Jon Steinberg, 47, received a relocation fee of up to £260,000 to help with the cost of moving from New York to London with his wife and two children when he was appointed in April 2023.

He has now informed the board that he and his family want to move back to the United States next year. It is understood that the family hopes to move to Florida. Steinberg has a 12-month notice period, so could potentially stay until next autumn, although Future has already begun the search for his replacement.

The surprise news of Steinberg’s departure sent shares in the company, whose magazines and websites range from Country Life and Marie Claire to The Week and Metal Hammer, down by almost a fifth.

Jessica Pok, a media industry analyst at Peel Hunt, the investment bank, said his exit would “cast a shadow over the investment case until a successor is found”.

A graduate of Princeton University, Steinberg worked for Google and Buzzfeed before becoming chief executive of the Daily Mail’s north American business. He founded Cheddar, a millennial-focused financial news network, in 2016, selling the business to Patrick Drahi’s Altice USA for $200 million three years later.

Steinberg was brought in by Future to replace Zillah Bing-Thorne, who spent almost a decade at the company and oversaw its audacious £594 million takeover of GoCompare, the price comparison website.

He was seen as pivotal in driving a “growth acceleration strategy” (GAS), under which Future added new ways of monetising content and closed less popular titles, including Total 911 and 3D World. The strategy won praise from industry analysts and the group’s most recent trading update showed that it returned to organic revenue growth in the summer.

Steinberg is widely seen as having done a decent job in his short time at Future, having guided the group through the post-lockdown normalisation in audience numbers and a slowdown in advertising spending amid an increasingly uncertain geopolitical and economic outlook.

Given the wider industry headwinds, however, the share price has not reflected that progress. On his first day, the stock was trading at £11.18. The shares closed at 794½p — down 189½p, or 19.2 per cent — following news of his exit.

Richard Huntingford, Future’s chairman, said: “I would like to thank Jon for the significant contribution he has made to the group. Whilst we are disappointed that he will be departing next year, we respect Jon’s decision to return to the US.”

Steinberg said: “Future is a wonderful business driven forward by incredibly talented people who I love working with, and it was a tough personal decision to step down from the board next year.”

Pok said: “The news comes as a surprise. The company has finally made a turn for the better, moving into organic growth, with audience trends stabilising and an experienced new chief financial officer, Sharjeel Suleman, now on board. While Steinberg is to remain during his notice period to oversee the final stage of GAS, his departure is undoubtedly disappointing.”

[galatea99] 18/10/2024 19:44

From "ADVFN
Evening Euro Markets Bulletin"

"Media group Future plummeted by 19.26% after announcing that chief executive officer Jon Steinberg would step down next year to relocate to the US.

“Jon Steinberg was only appointed to the top role in April 2023 but he’s already handed in his notice, saying it’s time to move back to the US with his family,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Future used to be a highly acquisitive business, snapping up titles to expand its empire of media assets which were then used as a platform to earn commission on product or service sales.

“The cost-of-living crisis and high interest rate environment knocked the company off track and it has been trying to regain momentum ever since.”

Mould noted that more recently, it had been shutting down the weaker parts of its business to save money and improve group margins, while at the same time trying to revive growth.

“Investors will be asking why Steinberg isn’t sticking around to see through this strategy - has he spotted problems down the line or has he simply been offered a better opportunity elsewhere?”

It seems to be all completely speculative!

[galatea99] 18/10/2024 18:52

Knocking close to 20% off a company's value simply because the CEO has said he wants to step down a year from now seems nuts.

Could it be that the City rumour mills may be thinking that the new CFO has discovered some can of worms on the CEO and that the CEO has panicked and is desperate to get out of the place?

There's no sense in it? I have read several times the latest results, gone over the H1 results and can find nothing amiss.

Call Poirot?

[smokeyjohnson] 18/10/2024 16:38

From one article regarding Steinberg's departure:

"Under Steinberg Future has used surplus cash to buy back its own shares, rather than make acquisitions, a strategy which has not improved the company’s share price."

[alotto] 18/10/2024 15:42

Indie I don't think it's a labour issue. The FTSE has underperformed since unmemorable times.

[takeiteasy] 18/10/2024 14:58

Why not wait and announce the exit with the actual results in December - then everyone can judge far better what the impact of his leaving is likely to be here. That is less than 2 months away....where is the IR department when you need them.

That for me is the big mistake here leaving the market to ponder too much for 8 weeks and what actually has been going on ....

[bookbroker] 18/10/2024 14:56

Agree, been a lot of change at top here with operating officers. Good titles, but maybe too many different categories.

[essential] 18/10/2024 14:55

Was looking to buy more all day but selling has been relentless. Decided to sell all and keep some profit. This looks like more than just the CEO leaving IMHO