'FT' not for sale; reports growing audience

London—Responding to a story in the Guardian newspaper that reported Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters have negotiated to buy the Financial Times, a spokesperson from Pearson, the FT's owner, said in a statement: “The FT is a very valued and valuable part of Pearson. It is not for sale.”

Separately, FT reported that its average daily global audience figure (ADGA)—reflecting those who read FT content in print, online, on smartphones and tablets—was 2.2 million in the six-month period from June to November 2011, a 5% increase over the six-month period from December 2010 to May 2011.

FT said the average number of people accessing FT.com content daily has surpassed 900,000, a 36% increase.

To determine ADGA, FT said, it uses syndicated surveys, unique user and browser data, FT proprietary research of its reader base and circulation figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Duplicated consumption is removed, and PricewaterhouseCoopers provides “independent assurance,” according to FT.