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Outgoing Austar boss and Photon chairman John Porter: “Photon is undervalued”

Outgoing Austar CEO John Porter

Photon, which is to change its name to Enero Group, is undervalued, the Australian communications group’s new chairman John Porter has said.

Porter, also the outgoing CEO of Austar, which is going through a $2.5bn merger with Foxtel, told Mumbrella that he “is not worried” by Photon’s share price – currently 5c – and is focused on what the owner of agencies BMF, BWM and Frank PR will be worth in the medium term.

“We’re approaching it [Photon] like private equity. What are the fundamental things we need to do to create value for this business in a three-five year time frame. We’re not so worried about what the stock price is this week, next month or in six months from now,” he said.

In an interview with Mumbrella managing editor Robin Hicks, Porter looked back at his time at Austar, the subscription TV giant he helped found “with a blank piece of paper” in 1994, and talks about:

  • Austar’s ‘Icarus’ moment in 2001
  • How letting 400 people go affected him
  • What a single pay-TV operator will mean to Australia
  • His ambitions for “Photon 3.0”
  • Are Photon’s agencies up for sale?
  • What is Photon worth?

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