The 17% rise in pre-tax profits excludes an exceptional credit of £2.7m from the first half of 2007, which was created from the sale of several of the company's magazine titles.
Including exceptionals, pre-tax profits dropped 34% year on year from £6.2m.
Revenues dropped to £78.3m in the half-year ended March 31, down from £84m in the first half of 2007.
However, the 2007 half-year revenue of £84m includes £4.8m generated from activities, which were closed or divested prior to September 30 2007. Excluding these, normalised revenue in the prior half-year was £79.2m.
Overall, UK revenue dropped 2% to £55.9m during the period, down from £57.2m the year before, following a 1% drop in ad revenue and a 4% drop in circulation revenue.
Global circulation revenue at Future dropped from £47.3m in the first half of 2007 to £46.6m in the first half of 2008, but this was buoyed by a 2% rise in advertising revenue during the period to £25.3m.
Online ad revenue jumped 31% during the period and now represent 19% of the group's total ad revenues.
Future continues to strengthen its digital operations, launching and during the period.
The company reaches over 11m unique users per month across all of its websites, which include and -- the number three games information website globally.
Stevie Spring, Future's chief executive, said: "Our strategy remains firmly on track, and we have made good progress during the first half.
"Our numbers are in line with expectations. Encouragingly, Future is proving resilient in these tough times because our consumers are passionate and committed. They invest in us, they spend time with us and they are loyal".
Spring added that the company continues to take a cautious view due to general market uncertainties but expects "a satisfactory outturn for the full year".
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