ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIMITED(THE)

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Next accounts due

2026-12-31 (in 7mo)

Last filed for 2025-03-31

Confirmation statement due

2026-10-12 (in 5mo)

Last made up 2025-09-28

Watchouts

1 item

Cash

£38M

+52.2% vs 2024

Net assets

-£65M

+5.7% vs 2024

Employees

1,575

+2.6% vs 2024

Profit before tax

£46M

+1.4% vs 2024

Watchouts

Facts from the Companies House register and the latest accounts — not a rating

1 PSC ceased in last 24 months

Significant control changed hands — see the Ownership section.

Net assets

2-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median

ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIMITED(THE)·Consumer Discretionary median · n=2305

Accounts

2-year trend · latest reflected 2025-03-31

Metric	2024-03-31	2025-03-31
Turnover	£359,524,000	£368,481,000
Operating profit	£47,119,000	£48,052,000
Profit before tax	£45,178,000	£45,829,000
Net profit	£34,073,000	£37,065,000
Cash	£24,776,000	£37,704,000
Total assets less current liabilities	£123,483,000	£129,578,000
Net assets	-£68,534,000	-£64,657,000
Equity	-£68,534,000	-£64,657,000
Average employees	1,535	1,575
Wages	£126,569,000	£137,172,000

Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers

Ratios

Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest

Ratio	2024-03-31	2025-03-31
Operating margin	13.1%	13.0%
Net margin	9.5%	10.1%
Return on capital employed	38.2%	37.1%
Gearing (liabilities / total assets)	141.9%	138.9%
Current ratio	11.93x	13.46x
Interest cover	19.05x	16.80x

Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.

Audit & accounting basis

Accounting basis: IFRS
Reporting scope: Consolidated group
Auditor: Deloitte LLP
Audit opinion: Unqualified (clean)
Going concern: Affirmed
“As at March 31st 2025, the Group agrees to hold a going-concern basis, the directors have considered the future trading prospects of the Group's businesses and the available financing facilities. Based on these projections, available facilities and covenants in place, the Board has concluded that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going-concern basis.”

Group structure

ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIMITED(THE) · parent
1. The Economist Books Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Investment holding company
2. The Economist Group (Brazil Holdings) Limited 100% · Brazil · Investment holding company
3. The Economist Group (Switzerland) SA 100% · Switzerland · Business information
4. The Economist Group SARL 100% · France · Business information

Significant events

“The Group completed the sale of Clearstate (Holdings) SG Pte. Limited, Clearstate (Pte.) Limited, Clearstate (Shanghai) Business Consulting Company Limited and Clearstate UK Limited on 13 December 2024. The disposal gave rise to a profit on sale of £6,326,000.”

Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers

People

10 active · 46 resigned

Name	Role	Appointed	Born	Nationality
GRUT, Oscar Kolya Meisen	Secretary	2002-07-01	—	Danish
BANGA, Manvinder Singh	Director	2020-09-01	Oct 1954	British
CADBURY, Georgina Sarah	Director	2023-01-05	Jan 1977	British
DEIGHTON, Paul Clive, Lord	Director	2018-02-21	Jan 1956	British
HEYWOOD, Suzanne Elizabeth, Lady	Director	2015-10-16	Feb 1969	British
MINTON BEDDOES, Susan	Director	2015-02-09	Jul 1967	British
PIACENTINI, Diego	Director	2019-11-22	Aug 1960	American,Italian
SALAME BORO, Lara	Director	2019-09-02	Aug 1967	British
SMITH, Stephen John Richard	Director	2026-04-27	Jun 1951	Canadian
SULEYMAN, Mustafa	Director	2019-06-19	Aug 1984	British

Show 46 resigned officers

Name	Role	Appointed	Resigned
ABESSER, Susan Jane	Secretary	2000-07-04	2002-07-01
BRESNAN, Patrick Richard	Secretary	—	1994-12-31
WALES, Anthony Edward	Secretary	1995-01-01	2000-07-04
ALEXANDER, Helen	Director	1997-01-01	2008-07-15
BAIN, George Sayers, Professor Sir	Director	1992-12-18	2001-12-18
BARLOW, Frank	Director	—	1999-02-16
BELL, David Charles Maurice, Sir	Director	2005-08-01	2018-09-25
CADBURY, Dominic, Sir	Director	—	2003-07-11
ELKANN, John	Director	2009-07-17	2020-07-14
EMMOTT, William John	Director	1993-05-11	2006-03-31
FAIRHEAD, Rona Alison	Director	2005-07-07	2014-07-14
FORESTER DE ROTHSCHILD, Lynn	Director	2002-10-22	2017-10-21
GARDINER, John Anthony	Director	2006-08-08	2010-07-19
GARDINER, John Anthony	Director	1998-04-17	2006-08-07
GIBBINGS, Peter Walter, Sir	Director	—	1999-06-08
GOLDSTEIN, Eli Emanuel	Director	2017-10-22	2026-04-17
GORDON, David Sorrell	Director	—	1993-05-09
HALE, John Hampton	Director	—	1994-12-31
HANGER, David Jonathon	Director	1996-11-22	2005-03-31
HARVEY-JONES, John Henry, Sir	Director	—	1994-07-12
HOBERMAN, Brent Shawzin	Director	2016-01-01	2018-12-31
HOFFMAN, Philip Joseph	Director	2014-07-22	2015-10-16
JOLL, James Anthony Boyd	Director	1995-10-03	1999-10-02
JOWELL, Tessa Jane Helen Douglas, Baroness	Director	2015-11-17	2018-05-12
KARP, Alexander Caedmon, Dr	Director	2016-02-01	2019-11-22
MALIK, Kiran Bir Singh	Director	1997-07-21	2005-07-12
MALLINCKRODT, Philip Stephan Arnold	Director	2017-07-18	2022-10-03
MENGEL, Philip R	Director	1999-07-27	2014-01-21
MICKLETHWAIT, Richard John	Director	2006-05-23	2015-01-30
MORRIS, Nigel William	Director	2004-05-28	2010-07-19
MOSER, Claus, Lord	Director	—	1993-07-13
PENNANT-REA, Rupert Lascelles	Director	2006-08-22	2018-07-17
PENNANT-REA, Rupert Lascelles	Director	—	1993-03-31
RASHBASS, Andrew	Director	2008-07-16	2013-07-18
RIDDING, John Joseph	Director	2014-02-12	2015-10-16
ROBERTSON, Simon Manwaring, Sir	Director	2005-07-28	2017-07-18
SCARDINO, Marjorie Morris, Dame	Director	1993-04-05	1996-12-31
SCHMIDT, Eric	Director	2013-10-28	2015-10-15
STEVENSON OF CODDENHAM, Henry Dennistoun, The Lord	Director	1998-07-09	2011-07-21
STIBBS, Christopher John	Director	2005-07-26	2019-08-30
SWANSON, Luke	Director	2011-07-22	2015-10-16
TAYLOR, Christopher	Director	1995-10-09	1996-12-31
VINKEN, Pierre Jacques	Director	—	1992-09-21
WAGENER, Jeremy Rupert Sinclair	Director	—	1995-06-30
WILSON, Robert Peter, Sir	Director	2002-05-01	2009-07-16
WOOD, Peter John	Director	1998-07-01	2004-03-30

Ownership

Persons with significant control

Name	Kind	Nature of control	Notified	Status
Mr Stephen John Richard Smith	Individual	Shares 25–50%	2026-04-20	Active
Lady Lynn Forester De Rothshild	Individual	Shares 25–50%	2023-04-26	Ceased 2026-04-20
Exor N.V.	Corporate entity	Shares 25–50%	2016-12-11	Active
Exor S. P. A.	Corporate entity	Shares 25–50%	2016-04-06	Ceased 2016-12-11

Filing timeline

Last 20 of 290 total filings

Date	Type	Category	Description
2026-05-07	PSC04	persons-with-significant-control	Change to a person with significant control	PDF
2026-05-06	PSC07	persons-with-significant-control	Cessation of a person with significant control	PDF
2026-05-06	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2026-05-06	PSC01	persons-with-significant-control	Notification of a person with significant control	PDF
2026-05-05	TM01	officers	Termination director company with name termination date	PDF
2026-01-28	AAMD	accounts	Accounts amended with accounts type group
2025-10-29	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with updates
2025-10-15	CH01	officers	Change person director company with change date	PDF
2025-08-21	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2024-11-19	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with updates
2024-10-17	PSC01	persons-with-significant-control	Notification of a person with significant control	PDF
2024-09-02	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2023-11-02	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with updates
2023-07-20	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2023-01-24	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2022-11-03	TM01	officers	Termination director company with name termination date	PDF
2022-10-12	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with updates
2022-09-30	CH01	officers	Change person director company with change date	PDF
2022-07-20	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type group
2021-09-30	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with updates

Public-record activity

Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months

Filings: 9
Capital events: 0
Officers appointed: 1
Officers resigned: 1

Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.

Year-on-year

FY2024 → FY2025 · period ending 2025-03-31 vs 2024-03-31

Turnover

+2.5%

£359,524,000 £368,481,000
Cash

+52.2%

£24,776,000 £37,704,000
Net assets

+5.7%

-£68,534,000 -£64,657,000
Employees

+2.6%

1,535 1,575
Operating profit

+2%

£47,119,000 £48,052,000
Profit before tax

+1.4%

£45,178,000 £45,829,000
Wages

+8.4%

£126,569,000 £137,172,000

Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. The comparison is only shown when the latest and prior accounts cover broadly equal-length periods — short or long stubs (typical around incorporation or a year-end change) are suppressed rather than misrepresented. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers

Official Companies House page