Brief
Condé Nast UK profits fall 36% after Vogue House sale
Pre‑tax profit excluding exceptional items fell 36% to nearly £18 m, with UK revenue down 7% and restructuring costs more than doubling.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Condé Nast’s UK arm reported a 36% drop in pre‑tax profit for the last financial year, according to newly filed accounts released on 18 October 2026.
What happened
The publisher’s pre‑tax profit, excluding exceptional items, fell from £28 million in 2024 to almost £18 million in 2025. UK‑generated revenue declined 7%, from £75.9 million to £70.6 million, while total revenue stayed near £100 million thanks to an 18% rise in international revenue, which reached £29.7 million.
What the reports add
The Guardian noted that restructuring costs more than doubled, climbing from £1.9 million to £4.3 million, and were described by Condé Nast as “primarily due to severance costs”. Staff numbers were almost unchanged, slipping from 466 to 461 employees between 2024 and 2025. The outlet also reported that the company’s spokesperson said the profit change reflects “a period of planned investment in customised client solutions” and cited changes to pension‑scheme projections and wage‑inflation pressures.
What was said
“Condé Nast remains profitable in the UK for another year,” a company spokesperson told The Guardian. The same spokesperson added, “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.”
How it came about
The profit decline follows a “bumper” 2024 after the sale of the London headquarters, Vogue House, which generated £64 million in proceeds. Earlier in the year, Steven Newhouse, chair of the Newhouse family’s Advance holding company, ruled out a sale of Condé Nast after speculation that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos might buy the group. The same period saw chief executive Roger Lynch leave to lead Mattel, and Lynch later warned that Google’s AI Summaries were a “death blow” to traditional media traffic, noting that Google now drives only about a quarter of site visits.
Key facts
- Condé Nast UK pre‑tax profit fell 36% to nearly £18 million (theguardian.com)
- UK revenue dropped 7% to £70.6 million (theguardian.com)
- International revenue rose 18% to £29.7 million (theguardian.com)
- Restructuring costs more than doubled to £4.3 million (theguardian.com)
- Staff numbers fell slightly from 466 to 461 (theguardian.com)
Sources
- [1] theguardian.com — originally reported as “Condé Nast’s UK profits drop by more than a third as sale of Vogue publisher ruled out”
