"Monty" insists he is not the ferocious job-cutter and scourge of journalism that he is invariably portrayed as. He contends that he is actually a benign ruler and that it has been a recurring theme of his career that wherever he has run media businesses - the Mirror, The Independent (then part of Mirror Group) and Belfast's News Letter) he has saved jobs. avid Montgomery, depicted last week by alarmed German journalists at the newspaper he bought as an "Anglo Saxon locust", feels misunderstood and put upon. The upward trend continued through 2005, with this year's Mariah Carey issue breaking sales records again.FHM GERMANYAugust 2005Now in its 12th year, the 100 Sexiest Women in the World is FHM's signature promotion and the largest global event in the men's magazine industry. Every year - across 30 editions - FHM collects more than 10 million votes before collating the results. Locally, each country puts its national winner on the cover; this year's example from Germany features supermodel Eva Padberg.. Shot on location in Mexico by fashion photographer James White, this edition demonstrated how confident FHM remains as a magazine despite recent market upheavals: a unique cover, completely bereft of all cover lines, and a best-seller on the newsstand.FHM USDecember 2004In December 2004 ESPN Monday Night Sports presenter LeeAnn Tweeden marked a new stage in growth for FHM US, her cover helping to record a highest ever FHM sale on the newsstand despite a declining market.

The best-selling issue of the life of the magazine, despite its small staff, FHM Norway recently announced a July circulation figure of 60,000 out of a population of only four million.FHM UKJune 2005As winner of the UK's Sexiest Women in the World vote for 2005, FHM UK secured Kelly Brook for this year's June issue. A limited-edition run of the issue in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden featured Dark as its first "virtual" cover star, while online there was the first multilingual website across all nine countries.FHM NORWAYMarch 2005A unique "triple gatefold" design allowed FHM Norway to feature all 10 of its High Street Honeys finalists on a single cover. Early indications are that, again, FHM has already moved ahead of its two closest competitors in circulation.FHM HollandNovember 2005In November FHM announced a global first: a nine-territory deal with Microsoft Game Studios to promote Xbox360 launch title Perfect Dark Zero and its star, Joanna Dark. In the biggest sampling exercise for a launch issue, 250,000 copies were printed and given away in an anonymous black bag along with Greece's biggest Sunday tabloid. Now selling 330,000 copies a month (according to the LA Times), FHM is the biggest men's magazine in the world's biggest market.FHM GREECEJune 05The newest addition to FHM's global presence, FHM Greece is the 30th magazine in the international portfolio.

Conceived to celebrate the second anniversary of the Russian edition, and a big hit with advertisers looking for bespoke display ads outside the norm, it has been taken up by seven territories so far and culminated in FHM UK's "three size" August issue: compact, normal and supersize.FHM CHINAMay 2004Already the biggest men's magazine in the Asian region, in May 2004 FHM also became the first mass-market men's title to launch in China. Created in co-operation with Beijing publishers Trends and in close consultation with FHM's international editorial staff, FHM China has proved the best example of how to translate the classic FHM values - funny, sexy, useful - into a more conservative culture. This year all 30 editions will co-operate on DVD and video production.FHMRUSSIASeptember 2004Demonstrating both the marketing innovation and the ability of the FHM network to share good ideas, the cover above is from FHM Russia's "supersize" issue - a magazine 50 per cent larger than normal. Featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes video from around the FHM world - as well as its own High Street Honeys - it heralded the next stage of international co-operation around the FHM network. The winner of France's version of Pop Idol, Eve Angeli, appeared in a lifelike three-dimensional first for the French newsstand.FHM AUSTRALIASeptember 2005Market-leading FHM Australia promoted its September issue with the first entirely "FHM-produced" DVD. The launch issue had to be reprinted twice to record a final sale of more than 350,000 copies.FHM FRANCEAugust 2005Following the success of Empire magazine's legendary Spider-Man 2 cover from August 2004, Emap's French division immediately began working on the first edition of FHM with a ground-breaking "lenticular" cover.