Nine Entertainment Group Highlights Streaming Growth and Strategic Initiatives at AGM

November 07, 2024 04:07 PM AEDT | By Team Kalkine Media

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Nine Entertainment Group Highlights Streaming Growth and Strategic Initiatives at AGM — Image source: shutterstock

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Highlights

Nine Entertainment Group reports strong streaming and subscription growth at AGM.

Stan surpasses 2 million subscribers, boosted by exclusive content and Olympics broadcast.

Emphasis on AI and digital transformation to enhance media operations and content reach.

Nine Entertainment Group (ASX:NEC) shared key updates in its annual general meeting, emphasizing its strategic efforts to enhance audience engagement across multiple media platforms despite economic pressures. Chair Catherine West and interim CEO Matthew Stanton highlighted the company’s strong performance in streaming, subscriptions, and digital transformation, with a particular focus on audience growth and innovative media solutions.

Nine reported significant growth across its platforms, reversing trends of audience fragmentation. The company’s live audience for both free-to-air television and streaming services has expanded, supported by popular content and major sporting events like the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. Nine’s streaming platform, Stan, reached over two million paying subscribers, showcasing the demand for exclusive content and positioning Nine strongly within the competitive streaming landscape. In addition, digital subscriptions for major publications, including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, grew robustly, bringing Nine’s total digital subscribers to over 500,000.

In financial performance, Nine posted FY24 revenues of $2.6 billion, though its EBITDA of $517 million marked a decline of 12% from FY23, reflecting the challenging advertising market. Net profit after tax (NPAT) came in at $190 million, while earnings per share (EPS) were 10.5 cents. The company noted that its cash flow and balance sheet remain healthy, with leverage at 1.2x as of June 30. Subscription and licensing revenues contributed more than 30% of Nine’s total revenue, showing a steady growth of 5% year-on-year.

To enhance shareholder value, Nine continued its share buy-back program, repurchasing around 120 million shares. The Board announced a fully franked final dividend of 4.5 cents per share, which, together with earlier payments, brings the total dividend for the year to 8.5 cents, reflecting a payout ratio of 73%.

In addressing workplace culture, West acknowledged the findings of an independent review by Intersection, which uncovered incidents of misconduct. She reiterated Nine’s commitment to fostering a safe and respectful work environment, with management implementing necessary changes to uphold accountability and integrity.

Looking forward, Stanton outlined plans to leverage advanced AI tools in operations, including 9Express, which converts broadcast news into written content. This AI-driven initiative is part of Nine’s broader strategy to integrate its media assets and capitalize on data insights to drive growth and streamline processes.

Nine Entertainment Group is positioned to navigate the evolving media landscape through its focus on audience expansion, digital subscriptions, and innovative content solutions.

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