TV and streaming feel the heat as Stokes’ Seven West profits slump by half
Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media has reported falls in revenue and profit for the first half of 2023/24, with underlying net profit after tax dropping by half to $63 million.
Kerry Stokes will step down as chair of the Seven Group (ABC photo)
The result, which excludes significant items, was down 49 per cent on the previous corresponding period ending December 30.
Revenue was down by five per cent to $775 million amid weakening advertising markets.
Seven’s television market, which includes metropolitan, regional and broadcast video on demand (BVOD), saw a year-on-year decline of 9.1 per cent, the company said in its results announcement on Tuesday.
The group is still looking to cut spending with $60 million in cost-cutting measures to be implemented in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.
Once again, Seven West did not hand out a dividend to investors, with the last dividend issued in 2017.
The broadcast video-on-demand market provided one bright spot with Seven’s audience share growing 16 per cent amid broader market growth of 12 per cent, while Seven grew its share of the total television market to 41 per cent, an increase of 1.7 points.
Seven could potentially take a leading position in the BVOD market, said outgoing chief executive James Warburton, who predicted streaming numbers for the Paris 2024 Olympics would be huge.
The company’s West Australian newspapers saw an increase in revenue to $87.9 million, up 3.5 per cent, with audience growth of 18.5 per cent.
