Southern Cross Media Group, fresh from cutting debt through a successful capital raising, is using the federal government's coronavirus crisis JobKeeper allowance to offset revenue losses.
The broadcaster told the ASX it achieved positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) in April.
Revenue falls were partially offset by cutting operating costs.
The company -- with 96 radio stations and 105 TV signals across 35 markets -- says it considers itself eligible for the JobKeeper allowance for 1,750 of its employees.
This $1,500 per fornight per employee subsidy is included in the operating cost reductions for April.
Companies applying for the subsidy are eligible if their revenue falls by 30% or more.
Southern Cross in February posted an 8.2% fall in half year revenue to $308.11 million in a tough advertising market. Since then, the economic fallout from the pandemic has cut deeply into ad spend.
"Receivables collections have performed in line with expectations, with limited payment deferral requests," says Southern Cross.
The company's net debt now stands at $161.8 million following the $169 million capital raising, which was supported by 92% of its institutional investors.
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