Nine Entertainment Group's first results as a listed company have revealed a Net Profit After Tax of $144.2 million in a result CEO David Gyngell has described as “exceeding expectations”.
The broadcaster and entertainment group said that while the advertising market was “increasingly difficult”, the group had gained positive momentum since the completion of the IPO earlier this year.
But statutory NPAT plunged from $1.2 billion to $58 million as a result of a number of one-off significant items, acquisitions, divestment and a recapitalisation of the company's balance sheet.
The company reported full year revenues of $1.578 billion, up 5.8% on 2013, while group Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation $311 million, a rise of 3.7% on 2013 and up 2% on forecasts.
“I am pleased with our performance in FY14 – we have exceeded our prospectus forecasts across the board, and we are making good operational progress across each of our television, live and digital businesses,” Gyngell said.
“Following the completion of the IPO and subsequent debt refinancing, we have a very strong balance sheet with significant flexibility.”
He said Nine was gaining ratings and revenue share across the year and was retaining ratings leadership in “all key advertiser demographics” as it pushed toward a revenue share target of 40% by 2015.
“The evolving integration of our leading television and digital businesses will differentiate us from our peers as will the significant and unique cross business opportunities opened up by the expansion of our Nine Live business,” he said.
“While the more recent advertising environment has been challenging, we are focused on improving the things we can control and enhancing our relative positioning through market leadership, consistency and innovation.”
Nine warned that the metro free-to-air advertising market would be down 5-10% on the prior September quarter, a comparison exacerbated by the federal election.
The Nine Network recorded EBITDA growth of 9.3% to $242 million, while Nine Live EBITDA was $68 million on revenues of $228 million.
Nine Digital reported EBITDA of $28 million, down 15.4% on revenue of $158.7 million.
“In light of the soft FTA market over the first quarter of the new financial year, first half results are likely to be subdued."
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