Fairfax buoyed by modest ad market recovery, despite losses in metro media business

Tim Burrowes

February 22, 2010 10:44

Fairfax Media has seen a rise in first half profits, with the group benefiting from cost cuts and the improving advertising market.

Net profit after tax in the six months to December 27 last year was $148.8m, compared to the $365m it lost a year earlier, due to writedowns to the value of the media group’s mastheads, including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, as well as costs related to redundancies.

In its metropolitan media business, which comprises Sydney and Melbourne newspapers and magazines, community publications and print and online classifieds, it saw a 27.8 per cent fall in Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) to $54.3m. Total advertising revenue was also down 15 per cent.

Metropolitan and community newspaper ad volumes fell 9 per cent – excluding employment, real estate and motors, while magazine volumes were down 35 per cent. Circulation revenue remained flat.

Be a member to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Become a member

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.