February 14, 2009. The National Magazine Company, Hearst Corporation's principal business in the UK, is pleased to announce its latest ABC figures.
Seven of the company's 19 magazine titles audited in this period are up year on year with the growth of two titles in particular - Men's Health and Esquire - bucking the downward trend in the men's market. Other titles to have recorded an ABC increase include Harper's Bazaar, Coast, Cosmo Bride, Runner's World and Zest.
Duncan Edwards, Chief Executive, the National Magazine Company says, "Despite a difficult and competitive market, we are pleased with our ABC figures and in most areas our titles have taken market share. Creativity and innovation remain the focus of our business and we will continue to invest in these areas, producing world class content and highly sought after magazines."
Highlights include:
- Men's Health continues to buck the downward trend in the men's market by posting a 4.1% increase and its highest ABC record in more than ten years.
- Harper's Bazaar celebrates another record ABC - its 12th consecutive increase, up 0.4%. The title recently published a special, super-sized edition to showcase its beautiful visuals to their maximum effect.
- Esquire, which continues to push creative boundaries, has recorded its highest ABC in six periods, up 0.4%.
- Coast celebrates its highest ever ABC figure, up 14.7% year on year.
- Cosmo Bride, completely overhauled in June last year, has recorded a 16% increase.
Jessica Burley, Managing Director, the National Magazine Company says, "In the last six month ABC period, NatMag has invested in a number of titles creating new sections to add value and maintain consumer interest. This strategy has paid off with the ABC figures reflecting the investment in those titles."
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For interviews and cover scans, please contact:
Jane Wynyard
Head of PR/Communications
National Magazine Company
020 7439 5211, 07872836722
jane.wynyard@natmags.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
Best: total ABC - 295,970
A good result from Best in a very aggressive market.
Coast: total ABC - 42,259
Coast celebrates its highest ever ABC figure, up 14.7% year on year.
Company: total ABC - 240,334
A very stable performance from Company magazine in a period which saw the magazine celebrate its 30th birthday.
Cosmopolitan: total ABC - 450,836
A solid performance from Cosmopolitan with loyalty growing as subscribers hit a record 59,000 - up 38% year on year under Editor Louise Court.
Cosmopolitan Bride: total ABC - 37,148
Cosmopolitan Bride, edited by Miranda Eason, was completely overhauled in June with an impressive ABC increase of 16%.
Country Living: total ABC - 189,200
Country Living has delivered yet another rock solid performance under Editor Susy Smith.
Esquire: total ABC - 60,051
Esquire continues to grow under the editorship of Jeremy Langmead and push creative boundaries - recently transforming iconic plasticine superstar, Morph, into a fashion icon on its pages. Sales for Esquire are up year on year and period on period with subscription sales at an all time high.
Harper's Bazaar: total ABC - 109,468
Editor Lucy Yeomans and her team celebrate another record sale for Harper's Bazaar with its 12th consecutive ABC increase.
House Beautiful: total ABC - 161,102
House Beautiful maintains its number two position in this aggressive market and continues to have 20,000 more subscribers than its nearest competitor.
Good Housekeeping: total ABC - 425,407
Good Housekeeping celebrates its 15th consecutive ABC release as the number 1 magazine in the Women's General Interest market, with a record subscriber base of over 224k, and the return of Editorial Director, Lindsay Nicholson, to the helm.
Prima: total ABC - 284,093
Prima's September re-launch and the addition of 30% more pages resulted in a period on period increase of 0.5%, showing that its fresh new look and increased pagination have been a real winner with readers.
Prima Baby: total ABC - 46,752
A strong performance by Prima Baby in a challenging market.
Real People: total ABC - 217,241
Real People, along with Best and Reveal, remains in the top 100 in a market of more than 2000 titles.
Reveal: total ABC - 270,014
Since its re-launch in August 2008, Reveal has enjoyed a good performance with readers loving the new look and feel.
SHE: total ABC - 165,008
In a challenging market, SHE has posted a robust ABC with record subscription sales up 10% year on year.
You & Your Wedding: total ABC - 58,046
You & Your Wedding continues to deliver a solid performance with a strong ABC that reinforces NatMag as the number 1 UK bridal publisher.
Zest: total ABC - 97,765
New Editor Mandie Gower's first ABC release sees Zest post an ABC increase of 1.2% year on year.
NatMag Rodale
Men's Health: total ABC - 250,094
Men's Health, edited by Morgan Rees, has broken through the 250,000 sales mark, with its highest ABC figure in ten years.
Runner's World: total ABC - 94,456
Another record ABC for Runner's World - its 13th consecutive year of growth. Runner's World also created a springboard for the launch of Triathlete's World this month.
About the National Magazine Company
The National Magazine Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst established by William Randolph Hearst in 1910.
The business comprises the core wholly owned business, also called the National Magazine Co and interests in two joint ventures. These are partnerships with some of the world's best publishers as follows:
NatMag Rodale:
A 50:50 joint venture with Rodale Inc. of the USA which focuses on health and wellbeing.
COMAG:
A 65:35 joint venture with Conde Nast, one of the UK's largest magazine distributors.
NatMag publishes 17 consumer titles in the UK: Coast, Company, Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan Bride, Country Living, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, House Beautiful, Prima, Prima Baby, SHE, You & Your Wedding, and Zest. The group publishes three large scale weeklies, Best, Reveal and Real People, and a further two magazines, Men's Health and Runner's World, through NatMag Rodale.
NatMag division, Hearst digital, publishes a number of community websites for NatMag magazines and also includes the Handbag network and www.netdoctor.co.uk, the UK's leading consumer health site.
For more information please log on to www.natmags.co.uk
