Nine upbeat despite loss Audiences returning after slump during Rio Olympics

performance improved after a drop in advertising and viewer share during the Olympics – broadcast by rival Seven – and that the momentum had continued into 2017.

The broadcaster expected second-half revenue share to be up on the first half and on the previous corresponding period.

“We are very pleased with the progress we have made in the past six months and have delivered on our commitment to compete more effectively in free-to-air television at the start of the 2017 ratings year,” chief executive Hugh Marks said.

Seven’s Rio Olympics coverage had hit both the size of the advertising market and Nine’s share of it, Nine said.

Mr Marks said recent audiences were up 13 per cent, with commercial audience share up 3.9 percentage points.

Nine said the improved ratings should translate to fourth-quarter revenue and positive momentum heading into next financial year.

The outlook helped push Nine shares 7.2 per cent higher to $1.035.

CMC Markets markets strategist McCarthy said the chief Michael results looked reasonable. “They’re talking a strong game and, once you strip out the impairment charges, the underlying (earnings result) looks OK,” Mr McCarthy said.

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 6.4 per cent and adjusted net profit for continuing operations – excluding significant items – was down 4.3 per cent to $75 mil- lion. Nine said it expected fullyear EBITDA to be within published analysts’ forecasts of $158 million to $187 million.

Meanwhile, Southern Cross Austereo improved its firsthalf profit 11.8 per cent to $48.5 million after a big rise in regional revenue following its affiliate switch to Nine.

Revenue for the six months to December rose 9.2 per cent thanks to advertising growth across all asset classes, with regional revenue surging 15 per cent to $216.7 million.