Magazine and website publisher Future saw its revenue fall by 12 per cent in the last three months of last year.

The Bath firm today published an interim management statement, saying trading in the first quarter of the current financial year had been "challenging".

It said its technology, active leisure, music and movies publications were proving resilient, but that its games magazines were suffering as fewer products were released onto the market.

The firm said: "In the UK, which accounts for over two-thirds of group turnover, the strength of our special interest portfolio model continues to help protect us from the worst of the media recession."

But it added: "Although the broader macro-economic outlook indicates that both the US and UK are pulling slowly out of recession, and there are some signs of a return of confidence, projected growth rates are very low and advertising budgets remain soft against a fierce competitive backdrop which is putting pressure on yields. For the second quarter, we expect January's adverse weather conditions to have some impact on UK newsstand performance in the month, but do not expect this to be significant. Overall, we expect trading conditions to remain challenging throughout 2010."

Chief executive Stevie Spring added: "We expected the first quarter to be tough, and that has proven to be the case particularly in our games segment. We expect trading to remain under pressure throughout 2010, so we are managing the business appropriately, while also ensuring our strategy remains on track. However, there have been some very robust performances throughout the business and I remain confident that Future is as well positioned as it can be to benefit from any economic recovery."