FT.com to start charging later this year

NEWS A free FT.com may be a thing of the past later this year as the Pearson, the FT's parent, seeks to recoup some of the millions of pounds invested in the high-profile service. The FT Group's Joanna Manning-Cooper is reported to have told the BBC that "large elements of the site will remain free" but that certain content, such as analysis or financial information, would start to cost. So far there has been speculation that an annual charge of around £100 could be on the way, though no details have been divulged. Pearson predicts FT.com will break even by the end of this year. Figures for the group for 2001 released Monday showed pre-tax profits fell 12 per cent to £294m. Newspaper and television advertising were badly hit. For an in-depth look at the issue of charging for web-based content, see our Hot Topic - Web content: time to pay? (http://www.silicon.com/wcttp ).