Nine posts $144m profit

Nine has presented its first full-year results after the completion of a float on the local stock market.

Nine posted a $144.2m profit, up 5.5 per cent on last financial year, and 3.4 per cent ahead of prospectus forecast.

Revenue was $1.58 billion on a pro-forma basis, up 5.7 per cent on the previous year while the Group EBITDA was $311m up 4 per cent.

“I am pleased with our performance in FY14,” said CEO David Gyngell. “We have exceed our prospectus forecasts across the board, and we are making good operations progress across each of our television, live and digital business.

“Following the completion of the IPO and subsequent debt refinancing, we have a very strong balance sheet with significant flexibility.”

Nine said it managed to grow its share of metro free-to-air ad-market revenue to 38.7 per cent from 37.9 per cent in the year through June 30 as the underlying ad market improved.

“We have exceeded our prospectus forecasts across the board, and we are making good operational progress across each of our television, live and digital businesses,” he said.

“While the more recent advertising environment has been challenging, we are focused on improving the things we can control and enhancing our relative positioning through market leadership, consistency, and innovation.”

Source: Yahoo, The Australian, Mumbrella