NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING – AUSTRALIA

Over 15.7 million Australians read newspapers in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-May-19

Roy Morgan has released the latest readership results for Australian newspapers, for the 12 months to March 2019. Over 15.7 million Australians aged 14+ (76.3%) now read or access newspapers in an average seven-day period via print or online, a fall of 2.2 per cent from a year ago. Although most leading newspapers had a decline in total cross-platform readership, ‘The Australian Financial Review’ increased its digital audience over the last year, up by 4.6 per cent to 1,469,000; ‘The Saturday Paper grew its total cross-platform audience by 16.7 per cent to 259,000. ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ is still Australia’s most widely-read masthead, with a cross-platform audience of 4,043,000, down 5.3 per cent from a year ago. Meanwhile, ‘Good Weekend’ remains Australia’s most widely-read newspaper inserted magazine, with print readership of 1,006,000 (down 13.8 per cent over the last year).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Nine close to selling Fairfax events business

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Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 2-May-19

Nine Entertainment Company is slated to receive final bids for Fairfax Media’s events business within days. Nine CEO Hugh Marks expects a deal to offload the business to be completed shortly. However, he has cautioned that Nine is unlikely to secure a deal to sell Fairfax’s New Zealand division by the end of June. Nine recently secured a deal to sell Fairfax’s portfolio of regional newspapers for $125m. Marks has reiterated Nine’s previous guidance for earnings growth of at least 10 per cent in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STUFF LIMITED, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Catalano swoops on Nine’s regional papers

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Original article by John Stensholt, Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 & 24 : 1-May-19

Nine Entertainment Company has sold its portfolio of regional newspapers to former Domain Holdings CEO Antony Catalano. He will pay $125m for the assets in partnership with Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Investment Group. Catalano forecasts that the Australian Community Media business will post EBITDA of around $42m in 2018-19 and about $50m in 2019-20. The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance has urged ACM’s new owners to commit to maintaining quality journalism in regional communities. Nine also intends to sell Fairfax Media’s events business and its New Zealand assets.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STUFF LIMITED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD

Monitor’s win cuts copyright payments

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-19

Media monitoring firm Isentia expects a slight ­reduction in its copyright costs for 2018-19 after successfully challenging a 2018 deal between the Copyright Agency and newspaper publishers. The interim ruling could affect the revenue of news publishers, but Campbell Reid of News Corp says the company will await the final ruling. Isentia says the interim ruling will not affect its EBITDA guidance for the financial year. The company is facing growing competition from rivals such as Streem and Meltwater.

CORPORATES
ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, COPYRIGHT AGENCY LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STREEM PTY LTD, MELTWATER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COPYCO

Nine chief upbeat as digital lifts earnings

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 21 : 22-Feb-19

Nine Entertainment Company has posted a pro-forma net profit of $126m for the first half of 2018-19, which is five per cent higher than previously. EBITDA rose by six per cent to $252m, although revenue fell three per cent to $1.2bn. CEO Hugh Marks notes that broadcasting now accounts for 54 per cent of the group’s revenue, compared with 86 per cent prior to the merger with Fairfax Media. Nine’s shares closed 7.2 per cent higher at $1.57 on 21 February.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, 9NOW, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, NINE.COM.AU, PEDESTRIAN

Fairfax regional papers to be sold by mid-year

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 21 : 22-Feb-19

Nine Entertainment Company has advised that prospective buyers are undertaking due diligence on its Australian Community Media business, and a deal should be finalised by mid-2019. Formerly owned by Fairfax Media, ACM comprises more than 170 community and regional newspapers. Nine has also commenced the sale process for its New Zealand division, Stuff, as well as its events business.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, STUFF LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA

Over 15.7 million Australians read newspapers in print or online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Feb-19

Roy Morgan has released the latest readership results for Australian newspapers, for the 12 months to December 2018. Over 15.7 million Australians aged 14+ (76.9%) now read or access newspapers in an average seven-day period via print or online, a fall of 1.3 per cent from a year ago. Although most leading newspapers had a decline in total cross-platform readership, the ‘Herald Sun’ grew its digital audience to over two million; ‘The Australian Financial Review’ also increased its digital audience over the last year, up by 1.2 per cent to 1,169,000. ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ is still Australia’s most widely-read masthead, with a cross-platform audience of 4,135,000, down 2.8 per cent from a year ago. Meanwhile, ‘Good Weekend’ remains Australia’s most widely-read newspaper inserted magazine, with print readership of 1,045,000 (down 12.8 per cent).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Private equity funds size up regional titles

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 24 : 4-Feb-19

Allegro Funds, Anchorage Capital and Platinum Equity are said to be the leading contenders to acquire Nine Entertainment Company’s portfolio of regional newspapers, which it inherited via the merger with Fairfax Media. Independent expert Grant Samuel had valued Fairfax’s Australian Community Media division at $100m to $120m in 2018, and the business generates EBITDA of around $52m a year. Nine is also believed to be looking to sell Fairfax’s New Zealand business, Stuff.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, STUFF LIMITED, RURAL PRESS LIMITED, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, TPG CAPITAL LP, GRANT SAMUEL AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY, HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN

Mogul Gordon grabs shares to increase stake in Nine

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 10-Jan-19

Australian businessman Bruce Gordon has lifted his direct stake in Nine Entertainment Company from 7.6 per cent to 8.9 per cent. Gordon has a total economic interest in Nine of about 13.4 per cent when a 4.5 per cent stake held via a cash-settled share swap is taken into account. Gordon’s stake in Nine had been diluted by its merger with Fairfax Media.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, BIRKETU PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC

Sign of the times as Fairfax goes

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 9-Jan-19

Nine Entertainment Company has confirmed that it is seeking a buyer for Fairfax Media’s events business, which has been valued at between $24m and $32m by Macquarie Group. Meanwhile, Nine has begun the process of phasing out the Fairfax Media brand; workers have used black plastic sheeting to cover the Fairfax signage on the newspaper publisher’s headquarters in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont. Some Fairfax staff were recently relocated to Nine’s offices in the Sydney CBD in the wake of the $4.2bn merger.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, EURO PROPERTIES, SYDNEY CITY COUNCIL, SPORTS MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT 360, NINE LIVE PTY LTD, AFFINITY EQUITY PARTNERS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD