(2-minute read)
NZME is a media company operating in newspapers, radio, and advertising. It has 35 print publications across the country headed by the New Zealand Herald, the second largest radio network with Newstalk ZB, ZM Breakfast and iHeart Radio amongst its offerings and advertising brands OneRoof, DRIVEN and GrabOne.
In recent times it has been in the news itself with several attempts to acquire Stuff, the media organisation owned by the Nine Network in Australia. These have been rejected by the Commerce Commission.
In the past few days, a further attempt was rebuffed by Nine Network and Stuff has in fact been acquired by its CEO for $1. As we commented last year the mainstream media (MSM) have come under considerable pressure in recent times from alternative sources of news and entertainment.
The MSM have lost significant advertising revenue as a result of declining audiences. NZME is no exception. As a result of Covid-19 the Government has offered a support package of $50 million to the media sector and indicated more support may be
forthcoming.
Operating Revenue for FY19 was down 4% at $371.7 million, EBITDA was down 7% at $50.6 million and Operating NPAT was down 4% at $19.7 million. As a result of a $175 million write down in Intangible Assets the Net Loss after Tax was $165.7 million compared to a NPAT of $11.6 million in FY18.
We note the company has a further $225 million of Intangible Assets with Total Assets of $353 million. Balance Sheet Equity is $116 million whilst Market Capitalisation is $43 million.
The shares are trading at $0.22 and have traded through a range of $0.58/$0.18 over the past 12 months. The Board and management have some significant challenges ahead if they are to restore the company to a profitable situation.
Source: NZ Shareholders Association
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