Nine shareholders suffer for $ 203m full- year loss

BROADCASTER Nine Entertainment has reported a $ 203 million loss for the year, despite ongoing cost cutting and program changes, as writedowns and one- off fees took a toll.

Revenue across the group was down 3.5 per cent for the 12 months to $ 1.24 billion. However, the biggest underperformer was the company’s Nine Network television operations, which saw a $ 50 million decline in advertising revenue for the year to June 2017.

Shareholders have been forced to take the brunt of this year’s loss, with a 21 per cent cut to their payout. The company declared a 5c a share final dividend, taking full year dividends to 9.5c, compared with last year’s 12c a share.

After stripping out the oneoff costs and the writedowns, Nine reported a profit before interest, tax and depreciation of $ 205.6 million. This was a modest 1.9 per cent improvement on last year, however, this year also included a $ 33 million one- off benefit from removal of licence fees.

Nine Network expected to expand its television audiences and revenue within the Adelaide and Perth markets during the coming year, while having a “consistent” performance in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, CEO Hugh Marks said.

The company’s second major division, Nine Digital, however, was a bright spot in the result, with revenue up 3 per cent to $ 155 million during the year and EBITDA up 11 per cent to $ 28.9 million.

It also it expects to achieve the “upper end” of the current analyst forecasts for its June 2018 full year profit of between $ 186 million to $ 207 million.

Motley Fool analyst Tom Richardson said the market was pleased with the cost discipline, although its trading position had to improve.

“The group’s Stan online streaming business is growing and Nine retains the exclusive rights to popular sports events,” Mr Richardson said.

“But with revenue and profit flat there’s not much to get excited about for investors.”