Financial Times Set For New Year Relaunch

The Financial Times is to relaunch its UK edition early this year in an attempt to boost sales.

The FT has refused to confirm details of the new-look but it is expected to include a new tabloid style insert similar to T2 in the Times and G2 in the Guardian.

Speculation has also suggested that former Daily Express editor, Richard Addis, will be overseeing the project, although the FT has denied any official decision has been made.

It is hoped the relaunch will provide the FT with brighter prospects for the New Year, as the paper’s parent group, Pearson, recently announced that advertising revenues at the FT were down 11% in the second half of 2002, with no upturn in ad sales foreseeable at the title during 2003 (see Pearson Sees No Revival In Financial Sector).

2002 was a difficult year for the Financial Times and commentators have suggested that faltering sales come hand in hand with the wave of job cuts in the city, the heartland of the paper’s readership.

ABC figures for November 2002 show that the circulation of the Financial Times has fallen 6.7% year on year to 451,790, down from 484,093 in the same period the previous year (see below).

However, analysis of a five year circulation trend for the paper shows that it has significantly increased its circulation from 1998, when it languished below the 400,000 level.

Financial Times: 0207 873 3000 www.ft.com

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