HT&E, the owner of broadcaster ARN, posted a 15% lift in revenue to $225 million for the year to December.
Profit was up 135% to $14.8 million as the radio market recovered.
Radio revenue grew 13% to $186.2 million as the ad market recovered. Total ARN revenue was $195.6 million,
CEO Ciaran Davis told market analysts in a briefing: "The resilience and robustness of radio is there to be seen."
The company says the 2021 results were ahead of expectations and puts the business in a strong position for further growth.
Dividends have been reinstated with a full year payout of 7.4 cents a share.
March quarter ARN revenue is forecast to grow 3% to 4%.
Outlook: "February market has been transitory with bookings shifting to March as advertisers deal with the lingering effects of Covid such as staff shortages.
"The easing of restrictions and opening of borders is having a positive effect on bookings and briefing activity for March and April especially for key radio categories such as hospitality, and travel & tourism.
"Q1 ARN Regional revenues and forward bookings have been less impacted, with the quarter pacing to finish up 5%-6% on same time last year. We are targeting $6-8m of revenue synergies in 2022 with the ARN Regional acquisition."
Ciaran Davis: “We have made excellent progress in executing our strategy to build Australia’s best broadcast radio and digital audio company.
“Our ratings success across our metropolitan network were outstanding throughout 2021, driven by commitment to recruiting and retaining the best Australian talent, with ARN maintaining its dominant market position as the #1 network for over two years.
“The acquisition of 46 radio stations from Grant Broadcasters is strategically compelling, creating a high-quality footprint across the whole of Australia and will accelerate future growth to maximise shareholder value.
"It provides access to increasingly important and growing regional audiences, enhances ARN’s ability to deliver content across multiple platforms and capitalises on the shift towards digital audio consumption.
“We have always taken a strategic approach to investing and with the growth of digital audio accelerating, in particular podcasting, we will continue to focus on our capability and content to retain our leadership position and meet the increasing advertiser demand.
"We are also investing in the creation of a new national youth brand as we believe youth culture is an under-served genre."
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