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Market leader FHM, down 18.5% in the previous period, saw its UK newsstand sales fall slightly but managed an overall 1.8% gain this period thanks to a 12,164 increase in overseas sales.

Loaded also saw its full-price newsstand sales fall and, despite cutting 14,841 bulk copies, still managed a flat result in the period thanks to a similar sudden boom in the export trade. Maxim's ABC fell 2.3% in the period.

Four other titles continued to slide in this period. Front, which includes 28,541 bulks in its total sale of 140,599, fell 8.5%. GQ was down 7.6%, Bizarre declined 7.8%, The Face fell 5.8% and Wallpaper posted a 0.7% fall.

In addition to Front, at least 10% of the ABC sales of six more titles are made up of bulks. These are Wallpaper, GQ, Esquire, Stuff, Men's Fitness and Arena.

In need of good news, the struggling Arena managed to up its UK newsstand sales by 26.5% to 21,189 and double overseas sales to 8248.

Though the slide has been slowed, the results fail to challenge the popular analysis that the men's sector is in dire need of innovation and the kind of boost Glamour has given the women's market.

The second issue of IFG's Jack has just gone on sale but, with estimated sales of the first issue put at 50,000, it seems unlikely it will provide a Glamour-like impact.

Publishers preferred to take a rosier view of the state of the market, however. FHM publishing director James Carter said the sector had stabilised from a previously unsustainable level and was still worth £120m in circulation and advertising revenue. He claimed FHM had benefited substantially in this period from its Pub In A Bag cover-mount promotion.

Maxim publishing director Andy Semple claimed his title had found its natural level. "We've lost the younger readers and advertisers are happier with our new readership profile, he said.

TOP 15 MEN'S LIFESTYLE TITLES
    Magazine                June end 2002  June end 2001  % change
1   FHM                           580,738        700,172     -17.1
2   Loaded                        309,041        305,444       1.2
3   Maxim                         270,159        305,070     -11.4
4   Sky Cust Mag (Ireland)        225,209              -       n/a
5   Men's Health                  216,983        213,145       1.8
6   Front                         140,559        152,041      -7.5
7   Wallpaper                     131,075        133,405      -1.7
8   GQ                            116,380        118,887      -2.1
9   Bizarre                        97,036        112,112     -13.4
10  Esquire                        62,005         62,005       0.0
11  Stuff                          56,571              -       n/a
12  The Face                       52,119         60,092     -13.3
13  Boom-Times are Good            50,100              -       n/a
14  Men's Fitness                  50,056         46,295       8.1
15  Arena                          38,326         50,140     -23.6