Nine has reported a profit drop of 40 per cent for the six months ending 31 December 2023 with profits for the period falling to $113.8 million, compared to $189.5 million the previous year.
The broadcaster was hit by high costs ($52 million) from the impairment of content no longer considered recoverable, as well as restructuring costs. Revenue for the period fell 2 per cent to $1.34 billion.
The fall in profits was driven by by “challenging economic conditions on the broader advertising market,” Nine CEO Mike Sneesby said in the ASX listing.
Despite the drop in profits, things were more rosy on the subscription side of the business which saw an 8 per cent growth. Subscriptions now make up 30 per cent of the group’s entire revenue.
“I am particularly pleased with the performance of our subscription businesses – with subscription and licensing revenues at Nine’s wholly owned businesses, Stan and Publishing, together growing by around 8 per cent, to more than 30 per cent of Group revenue ex Domain. At Stan, 11 per cent revenue growth and more than 40 per cent EBITDA growth is testament to Stan’s strong positioning in Originals and Sport which continues to pay off, as well as its focus on cost efficiencies,” Sneesby said.
Peter Costello, chairman of Nine said: “I am very pleased with the way the Company responded to the broader economic challenges in the second half of calendar 2023. We have enhanced our competitive position. We are positioned well for the future. The breadth of our different businesses has proven its worth in these conditions.”
Sneesby also made a case for the government to consider the “news media bargaining code and its intent to enforce the code” adding that the media landscape has “evolved significantly since the code was drafted and requires the government’s urgent attention to ensure Australian media companies are being fairly compensated for how platforms are deriving value from our content”.
“For example, Nine’s premium video content continues to drive huge audiences on social media platforms, while we are also witnessing the rapid growth in generative-AI services which utilise our public interest journalism to build and train their models”.
