FT Group boosts profits to £55 million as business daily's digital subs rise to 415,000

The FT Group made a profit of £55 million last year despite plunging print circulation figures for the FT according to results reported this morning.

Profit was said to be up 17 per cent year on year, on an underlying basis.

According to parent company Pearson, the FT’s total circulation grew by 8 per cent to 652,000 when digital subscribers are added to the print total.

The FT claims that this circulation figure is the highest "paying readership" in the newspaper’s 126-year history. The current print circulation of the FT is 234,000 - of which 23,764 are bulk copies.

FT Group said in a statement: “ FT.com  digital subscriptions grew 31 per cent to 415,000, more than offsetting planned reductions in print circulation. Digital subscribers now represent almost two-thirds of the FT’s total paying audience and corporate users grew nearly 60 per cent to more than 260,000.