One-off costs drag Tiso Blackstar’s loss to R548m

JSE-listed media group Tiso Blackstar on Monday reported a R547.78m loss for the year ended June, owing to operating and disposals losses.

Tiso Blackstar, the publisher of Business Day, Sowetan and the Sunday Times, said revenues from continuing operations decreased by 22.8% to R2.4bn from R3.05bn in the previous financial year.

The company said its headline loss per share widened by a staggering 160.3% to 76.60c a share, from 29.43c a share in the previous year.

Loss per share for the group grew larger to 213.07c a share, widening by 49% from 142.96c a share in the prior year.

CEO Andrew Bonamour said in a statement the trading performance increased 3% from the previous year, which is “commendable, considering the difficult trading economic conditions. However, this solid trading did not translate into profits, mainly due to the significant other losses incurred during the year”, he said.

The drop in performance was mainly due to one-off costs such as impairments of assets, relocation costs for Hirt & Carter to a new facility and a write-off of its interest in Robor. The write-off includes loan receivables owing by Robor of R68.3m. Tiso Blackstar said losses also arose from the disposal of subsidiaries Smartcall Technology Solutions and Consolidated Steel Industries.

Tiso Blackstar has sold its print, broadcasting and content businesses in SA, Ghana and Kenya to Lebashe for R1.05bn.

Lebashe is an unlisted investment holding company focusing on financial services and ICT that holds stakes in a number of businesses, such as Capitec, EOH and RainFin.

Tiso Blackstar’s shares were 2.86% up to close at R3.60 a share on Monday.