Profits at the UK arm of publishing giant Condé Nast fell by more than a third last year, according to new figures published after the family that owns the Vogue publisher ruled out a sale.
The publisher saw pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items plummet 36 per cent from £28m in 2024 to nearly £18m last year.
This follows the media group, which publishes glossy titles including GQ, Vanity Fair, and Tatler, booking £64m in proceeds following the sale of its UK headquarters, Vogue House, in Mayfair.
UK revenues fell 7 per cent from £75.9m to £70.6m, according to the publisher’s newly filed accounts, but an 18 per cent hike in international revenues, to £29.7m, kept total revenues nearly flat at £100m.
“Condé Nast remains profitable in the UK for another year,” a spokesperson for the publisher said.
“The change in the exact level of profit reflects a period of planned investment in customised client solutions,” they said.
Costs tied to restructuring at the company more than doubled year on year, from £1.9m to £4.3m.
The publisher said this hike was “primarily due to severance costs” and “reflects the outcome of an ongoing business restructuring plan by the Group to refocus editorial, commercial and business teams on the strategic goals.”
“There were no large restructures in the UK business in 2025. There were isolated instances of redundancy, but headcount remained flat as hiring continued across the business,” the spokesperson said.
“In addition, there have been changes to the pension scheme projections and wage inflation, which also impacted profit for this year,” they added.
Billionaire family rules out sale
This follows the chair of the Newhouse family holding company Advance that controls Condé Nast, Steven Newhouse, ruling out a sale of the publishing giant after long-running speculation over future ownership of the firm.
Newhouse told the Financial Times: “Maybe for a certain class of non-media owner, there’s a prestige to owning media properties.”
“But we’ve been a media owner for 100 years. So we’re not in it for the glamour.”