Ad spend is growing at the Nine Network, but the highlight is the strong jump in subscriptions to this masthead and Stan.
Ad spend is growing at the Nine Network, but the highlight is the strong jump in subscriptions to this masthead and Stan.
By Colin Kruger
February 25, 2025 — 10.02am
Nine Entertainment has posted a strong jump in its subscription businesses – including streaming service Stan and this masthead – in the first half of fiscal 2025, with ad spend showing signs of growth at the Nine Network this year.
For the half year ending December 31, Nine reported that revenue edged higher to $1.39 billion, but net profit dropped 25 per cent to $112.2 million after the loss of Meta revenue and the impact of weaker economic and advertising market conditions. The group lowered its half-year dividend to 3.5c per share from 4c for the prior December half.
Nine shares are 1.8 per cent higher in early trade.
“Operationally, we were generally pleased with the performance of our portfolio in the half,” acting chief executive Matt Stanton said.
“In particular, at Stan, subscriber numbers exceeded our expectations, underpinning 16 per cent growth in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), whilst at Publishing, digital subscription revenues at our mastheads grew by 15 per cent (ex the impact of Meta and Google), with the team also doing a great job with cost efficiencies offsetting much of the impact of the Meta withdrawal.”
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Nine also owns commercial radio stations 2GB and 3AW, Domain and The Australian Financial Review.
Nine’s metro newspapers – The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, WA Today and Brisbane Times – recorded growth in digital subscription revenue of around 15 per cent, excluding the impact of revenues from Google and Facebook. Total subscriber numbers grew to more than 500,000 in the December half.
Cost-cutting, including lay-offs, delivered $35 million worth of efficiencies for the December half, and Nine said it would exceed its previous target of $50 million in cost savings for the current financial year.
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Nine said that 2025 has started on a positive note, with growth in both its streaming and traditional broadcast business. The latter expects to record mid-to-high single-digit growth for the March quarter, but Nine cautioned against extrapolating these numbers further.
“With the market remaining short, it is too early to estimate Q4 performance,” the company said.
Nine did not clarify its long-term leadership, with Stanton remaining in an acting role more than five months after replacing Mike Sneesby, who departed last September following a year plagued by controversy.
The earnings announcement came just days after Nine’s property listings business, Domain, received a $2.7 billion takeover offer from US property giant CoStar.
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Nine reiterated its statement last week that Domain is of strategic importance to Nine’s media ecosystem and its long-term growth strategy.
Nine has a 60 per cent stake in Domain, and the bid for the business comes as it conducts a strategic review of its overall operations.
The conditional offer gave both Nine and Domain shares a strong boost on Friday. Nine jumped 20 per cent to $1.73, while Domain surged 40 per cent to $4.37.
More to come.
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