Domain drives growth for Fairfax as company continues on path from print to digital
Fairfax Media managed to boost its revenues with digital real estate division Domain swelling the company’s half yearly results as the traditional print side of the business continues to struggle.
Revenue for the second half of last year grew by 1.6%, with group EBITDA for the publishing company up 15.5% from $85.3m to $98.6m. Fairfax, which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, posted a net profit after tax of $27.4m.
Again though Domain was the growth engine for the company in the first six months of the year with digital revenues climbing 36.9%, with Domain.com.au posting revenue growth of 38%, as the company noted print advertising was continuing to fall.
Domain.com.au posted revenue growth of 38%, with total revenue for the segment up 62.8%, from $94.5m to $153.9m. Domain posted an EBITDA of $65.7m, up from $37.8m.
Fairfax must be petrified at the near consensus in politics to rein in house price inflation. A contraction in transaction would hammer it’s only business and on these numbers would kill its newsrooms.
If all that is good news, why is the share price tanking so badly right now?
Domain – hurry up and IPO. The market wants it. Fairfax just needs to let their prized asset free.
I don’t think they should IPO Domain to me it seems like it is a symbiotic relationship between the newspapers and Domain. Domain needs the newspapers to keep writing endless domain stories and funnelling traffic through to it and the newspapers need Domain to keep them viable.
@ Newson — but if they sold off Domain, there would be nothing (of any great value) left of Fairfax. Domain is the only thing propping this business up right now. Do the math: Total Fairfax EBITDA grew by $13m. Domain’s EBITDA grew by almost $30m. Take that out of the equation and Fairfax’ total EBITDA would have actually gone backwards significantly.