The magazine is understood to be set to post its fourth consecutive period of growth with a figure believed to be around the 192,000 mark, when the ABC figures for the July-December 2002 period are released on Friday.
The news is a triumph for editor Trish Halpin, who was installed as editor of the magazine two years ago to turn its fortunes around after it hit an all-time low of 155,000 during the July to December 2000 period. She joined Red from Emap's New Woman where she was deputy editor. Before that, Halpin worked at Emap's More magazine.
Since joining, Halpin has boosted the magazine's celebrity content. This month Red celebrated its fifth birthday with a special celebrity issue which featured Heather Mills McCartney wearing a dress designed by her step-daughter Stella McCartney.
The March issue, out on Friday, continues to capitalise on the nation's obsession with all things celebrity, with 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Ally McBeal' star Lucy Liu gracing the cover.
In the last set of ABCs for the January-June 2002 period, Red showed period-on-period growth of 7% to 186,023, as it clawed its way back towards its debut circulation of 190,136 for the January-June period in 1998.
This latest rise could see it overtake She, which is owned by the National Magazine Company. She was caught up in a recent circulation scandal, which saw NatMags investigated by the ABC over its use of bulk sales. She's circulation dropped 10,000 from its 191,541 circulation figure for the last period when its figures were restated. It is not expected to show a recovery on Friday.
Red is published by Hachette Filipacchi UK, the division created when French company Hachette bought Attic Futura for £40m last summer. This created conflict with Emap, which co-produced Elle and Red among others with Hachette. The French publisher outbid Emap to take control of the two women's glossies with a sealed bid of £34m compared with Emap's £20m.
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