EBIT before exceptional items increased to £6.8m for 2012 compared to £5.4m in 2011. After exceptional items were accounted for, Future made a £3.2m profit compared to 2011's £16.5m loss (after a £17.1m impairment charge on the value of its US assets).

Pre-tax figures reverted to a £1.1m profit for 2012 compared to 2011’s £18m loss. The publisher said that digital revenues from the UK-based business, which is responsible for 81% of the group’s total turnover, helped to offset the downturn in its print portfolio.

Digital activities contributed an EBIT excluding exceptional items of £1.3m, while print activities resulted in a £600,000 loss across the group and a £1.2m loss in the UK (partially countered by a £600,000 profit in the US).

Print revenues overall still accounted for around three quarters of the group’s £117.7m revenue, but suffered a decline of 8% compared to digital’s 30% turnover boost to £20.6m for 2012.

Future, which publishes Total Film and What Mountain Bike, revealed that digital advertising now accounted for 44% of the total in its full-year results to September 2012. Print advertising revenues declined further in 2012, by 13%.

While unique visitors to its websites grew by 21m to 51m since 2011, monthly print circulation of its magazines declined by 300,000 copies. Just over half of its printed magazines sold, yet digital magazine sales increased by more than 700%, totalling 239,000 in 2012 compared to 2011’s 33,000 sold.

Future chief executive Mark Wood said that the company would "accelerate digital transformation" in the upcoming year following the success of its digital launched.

He said: "We are particularly please that the group has established a powerful position at the centre of the tablet revolution. As technology giants contend for market leadership, they will undoubtedly fuel demand for the tablet-friendly content in which Future excels.

"Future has demonstrated an ability to thrive in the global digital media market. The board is confident the group is on track to sustain its digital growth in the period ahead.

"Future is fast becoming a new kind of business and in the past year has created a solid platform for growth in 2013 and beyond."

However, the publisher confirmed that print media has a long-term future in its product mix alongside online.

Crafts magazine Mollie Makes and N-Photo, a Nikon photography title, launched in 2011 to sit among Future’s most successful and profitable products of 2012. The report hinted at more female-focused print titles being released next year to build on the success of Mollie Makes and The Simple Things, launched in September.