NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING – AUSTRALIA

Fairfax ‘reviews’ its papers

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 11-Aug-16

Fairfax Media has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A893.5m, following a profit of $A83.2m in 2014-15. The latest result was marred by a $A1bn writedown in the value of its newspapers. The listed media group’s underlying net profit was 7.6 per cent lower at $A132.5m, and revenue fell by 0.6 per cent to $A1.83bn. CEO Greg Hywood says the company will consider all options for its publishing businesses, adding that the Australian Community Media regional newspapers business is under review.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, SENSIS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, GRESHAM PARTNERS LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Fairfax mulls sale of regional newspapers

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 9-Aug-16

Fairfax Media has declined to comment on speculation that it could divest the Australian Community Media division. The media group is said to have held talks with Platinum Equity about buying its portfolio of regional newspapers, which was primarily acquired via the 2007 merger with Rural Press. Fairfax already proposes to sell its New Zealand newspaper assets to NZME.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, RURAL PRESS LIMITED, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, SENSIS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Roy Morgan Newspaper Print Readership and Cross-Platform Audiences for June 2016

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Aug-16

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and seven-day Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to June 2016. The "Herald Sun" remains the most-read weekday newspaper in print (down 2.1 per cent to 852,000), while "The Daily Telegraph" scored the biggest gain in print readers, up 25,000 (4.0 per cent) to 650,000 readers per average Monday to Friday issue. "The Saturday Paper" is living up to its name, with the title’s first year-on-year figures now showing growth of 13.5 per cent to 118,000 readers per average issue, while Sunday print readership dipped below 4.5 million Australians nationally (down 6.8 per cent). "The Sydney Morning Herald" remains Australia’s most-read masthead across all platforms, reaching a combined audience of 4,081,000 in an average week, including a net 1,196,000 print readers and 3,462,000 digital readers.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Shut weekday print, investor tells Fairfax

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Original article by Damon Kitney, Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 3-Aug-16

Australian businessman Alex Waislitz owns more than two per cent of Fairfax Media’s shares, via Thorney Investment Group and the listed Thorney Opportunities. He says that scrapping the weekday print editions of "The Age" and "The Sydney Morning Herald" is in the best interests of Fairfax and its shareholders, and CEO Greg Hywood should accelerate plans to do so. Waislitz has also welcomed Fairfax’s move to release separate earnings data for its Domain property listings business, and he says Fairfax should undertake a share buyback.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN

Fairfax suffers another $1bn newspaper cut

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-Aug-16

Australian-listed Fairfax Media has announced a $A989m writedown in the value of its publishing assets. This includes a $A484.9m writedown of Metro Media and a $A408.8m writedown of its newspapers in regional and rural areas. Fairfax has also begun reporting the revenue of its Domain property listings business separately from the Metro Media division. However, Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood has downplayed speculation about an IPO for Domain.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, METRO MEDIA PUBLISHING PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT

APN sale draws out rival bidders

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 20-Jun-16

APN News & Media is hoping to sell its regional newspapers business for $A50m, although some observers believe that a lower price is likely. News Corporation and Singapore-based Fetch Plus are among the groups that have submitted binding offers to buy the Australia Regional Media business. News Corp Australia holds a 14.9 per cent stake in APN, and executive chairman Michael Miller is a former CEO of APN.

CORPORATES
APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FETCH PLUS INCORPORATED PTE LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AQUASIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTAR UNITED COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, ABN AMRO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NZME, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION

Fairfax advised to exit regionals

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 26 : 13-Jun-16

Australian businessman Alex Waislitz holds around two per cent of Fairfax Media’s shares via Thorney Investment Group and the listed Thorney Opportunities fund. He has suggested that Fairfax could divest its regional newspapers division, which could include merging it with the regional newspapers arm of rival News Corp Australia. Waislitz also says Fairfax should not seek to acquire or merge with a free-to-air TV network, arguing that the group should focus on growth businesses such as Domain.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, DOMAIN.COM.AU, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION, FETCH PLUS, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA

Rich-Lister calls on $100m Fairfax buyback

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 10-Jun-16

Australian businessman Alex Waislitz holds around two per cent of Fairfax Media’s shares via Thorney Investment Group and the listed Thorney Opportunities fund. He says Fairfax could improve value for shareholders by repurchasing an additional $A100m worth of its shares, while he also advocates offloading non-core assets. However, Waislitz says Fairfax should invest more capital in real estate listings business Domain rather than selling it.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, DOMAIN.COM.AU, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN

KKR lured in Fairfax break-up hard sell

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 18-May-16

Investment bank Credit Suisse is believed to have held meetings with private equity firm KKR regarding the acquisition of Fairfax Media. However, the media group itself was not involved in the talks, and KKR was not interested in a buyout. Providence Equity Partners and Hellman & Friedman are other private equity firms that could potentially be interested in Fairfax. Any buyer of the media group would most likely divest or cease publishing its print newspapers and focus on Fairfax’s digital assets, including Domain.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, KKR AND COMPANY LP, PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS INCORPORATED, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, DOMAIN.COM.AU, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, SEVEN MEDIA GROUP PTY LTD, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NZME, GRABONE, THE RADIO NETWORK

Think global, act local, Miller says

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 16-May-16

News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller says the nation’s major media companies have the capacity to expand internationally. He adds that the best media companies think on a global scale, and notes that 11 of the 25 websites that boasted more than one million Australian visitors in March 2016 were international sites. The newly-launched News Media Index shows that newspaper advertising revenue totalled $A2.4bn in 2015.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HOLDINGS LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NEWSMEDIAWORKS, SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, BUZZFEED PTY LTD, DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA, THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA