The Top 100 Magazines: Women's Lifestyle

Simon Kippin, Glamour's publishing director, admits the title has been

hit by the launch of magazines such as Grazia. "I'm not exactly cracking
open the Champagne, but nor am I wearing a hair shirt. There are worse
places to be than Glamour," he says.

Cosmopolitan, Glamour's main rival, also experienced a year-on-year
circulation decline. But its publishing director, Jan Adcock, argues the
title has increased its market share.

"With a premium price and active sales of more than 460,000,
Cosmopolitan remains the most valuable monthly magazine on the
newsstand," she says.

IPC Media's Marie Claire suffered a slight year-on-year sales
decline.

It attributes this fall to comparisons with a strong year in 2004, when
the title was relaunched.

Richard Johnstone, the publishing director of Marie Claire, says: "It's
unsurprising Marie Claire has dipped against such strong headline growth
last year. However, for the past three years, Marie Claire has
consistently delivered advertisers more than 370,000 twenty- and
thirtysomething women and will continue to do so."

Hachette Filipacchi's Elle and IPC's InStyle posted solid circulation
rises, evidence of a burgeoning interest in fashion-focused titles.
Vogue, which celebrates its 90th anniversary in September, also
continued to climb on the back of strong subscriptions growth and a
focus on newsstand sales rather than bulks.

The glossy titles that experienced the worst sales declines were Emap's
New Woman and NatMags' Company. NatMags says Company has suffered
because of the tough climate in the sector but is committed to increased
investment in the title's editorial and promotional support.

A NatMags spokeswoman says: "The level of attrition in this market,
increased promotional spending, discounting and covermounting, has been
unprecedented over this period.

Company has a very consistent monthly sales pattern and, unlike many of
our competitors, does not have huge sales fluctuations month to
month."

Industry experts expect titles at the younger end of the market to
revamp and take the fight to the weeklies. Claudine Collins, the group
press director at MediaCom, says: "Younger titles such as Glamour have
been hit by weekly titles. What you'll see is magazines such as Glamour
increasing their celebrity content."

Emap's Grazia, a year on from launch, posted a double-digit sales
increase.

Observers say its mix of fashion and celebrity is proving popular and
expect rival publishers to launch against it. Collins adds: "Grazia came
to the market saying it would sell 150,000 and it has exceeded that.
Having said that, it's half celebrity and real-life with a glossy
cover."

Titles at the older end of the market generally did well. Conde Nast's
Easy Living continued to increase sales and NatMags' Good Housekeeping
posted strong year-on-year figures. Hachette's launch, Psychologies, was
a whisker away from its circulation target of 100,000. Haymarket's Eve
posted its seventh successive period of growth and Conde Nast's Tatler
can claim to be the UK's fastest-growing women's lifestyle title at the
newsstand.

Verdict Titles at the mature end of the market will continue to perform
well owing to heightened interest in fashion. Monthly magazines aimed at
younger women will increase their celebrity coverage to compete with the
weekly lifestyle market.

WOMEN'S LIFESTYLE
TITLE PUBLISHER Total ABC Period-on Year-on
-period -year
% change % change
Glamour Conde Nast 585,984 -3.9 -5.5
Good Housekeeping NatMags 468,579 -1.5 7.7
Cosmopolitan NatMags 461,610 -0.3 -3.5
Yours Emap 421,438 -4.2 -4.0
Marie Claire IPC 371,444 -2.6 -3.4
Woman & Home IPC 335,922 2.6 1.0
Prima NatMags 331,715 1.7 4.5
Candis Newhall 312,547 -2.3 -2.6
Company NatMags 283,429 -6.2 -14.8
New Woman Emap 231,066 -14.6 -17.6
Red Hachette Filipacchi 219,689 0.3 4.6
Vogue Conde Nast 214,348 1.9 3.6
Elle (UK) Hachette Filipacchi 208,132 2.2 3.0
InStyle UK IPC 196,857 0.1 3.1
Real Essential 183,042 -9.3 -7.1
Easy Living Conde Nast 182,146 6.5 n/a
Grazia Emap 170,783 10.1 n/a
Eve Haymarket 163,671 1.0 2.2
She NatMags 156,674 5.7 -13.0
B Hachette Filipacchi 150,536 -10.1 -9.4
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations, July-December 2005.