The company said the new financial year had a promising start with its Olympic Games coverage, which delivered strong cross-platform audiences, helping boost expectations of a 10 per cent rise in metro free-to-air revenue for the September quarter.
It also expected continued growth from streaming service Stan. However, the company said revenue and earnings for its publishing division, which houses the print mastheads, were expected to be down year-on-year.
Nine’s total television revenue was down $119 million, or 10 per cent, slightly more than the 9 per cent decline across the total market. EBITDA in the segment was down 32 per cent, representing an almost $100 million decline.
Print revenue in Nine’s publishing sector fell 6 per cent but was largely offset by a 4 per cent rise in digital revenue for the metropolitan titles, led by an 8 per cent increase in subscriber numbers. The division delivered total EBITDA of $152.6 million, down 7 per cent. This made up 29.5 per cent of total group EBITDA, despite contributing 21.3 per cent of total revenue.
Nine’s results come after a period of turbulence for the ASX-listed media group. The company was rocked when details emerged in May over its handling of historical complaints made against former Channel Nine news and current affairs boss Darren Wick.
Longstanding chair Peter Costello then stood down in early June, just days after allegedly pushing over a journalist from The Australian inside Canberra Airport. The journalist, Liam Mendes, filmed the incident while asking questions about Sneesby’s handling of the harassment scandal.
Like other media companies in Australia, Nine has been significantly impacted by rising costs with falling revenue for traditional forms of advertising, in particular broadcast television, Nine’s main source of revenue. Commercial television advertising revenue has fallen in two consecutive fiscal years, according to recent data from industry marketing group ThinkTV, representing hundreds of millions of lost revenue for commercial television players.
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Nine is due to deliver the results of an external independent review into workplace culture specific to its television news and current affairs division in September, which is being carried out by advisory firm Intersection.
At the end of May, Sneesby informed staff that as many as 200 roles would be cut as part of a cost-saving initiative, brought on by prevailing market conditions. The end of a commercial deal with digital giant Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, meant the publishing division lost 85 staff, details of which were finalised this month. Most of those workers will leave the business on Friday.
Staff at those mastheads also walked off the job in July for a five-day strike over pay conditions, as part of enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations. An improved pay deal was struck the day they returned to work.
The company announced a fully franked dividend of 4.5 cents per share.
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Source Agencies
