Fairfax Media has this morning reported a full year profit of $83.2 million – a 62.9 per cent decrease on last year’s $224.4 million after revenues decreased 5.3 per cent.
However, things weren’t all grim for the media group with its real estate site Domain enjoying a 53 per cent increase in revenues on the back of the nations’ exploding real estate market. In 2016, Fairfax expects Domain.com.au costs to increase at a similar rate to fiscal 2015 — about 30 per cent — as it continues to invest in growing Domain’s digital footprint.
Fairfax Media’s CEO and managing director Greg Hywood said: “Through organic growth initiatives and acquisitions, we are moving to a position where the growth in our digital revenue offsets the decline in print. As we foreshadowed a year ago, we are investing in our growth businesses and ventures.”
The company – that prints the mastheads The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review among others – reported a net cash of $64.4 million; slightly down on last year.
Mr Hywood said the cash gives “considerable flexibility to continue to invest both in our existing businesses and via acquisition as we continue the transformation of the company.”
