Network Ten returns to profit
Network Ten has reported underlying profits of $4.5m for its past financial year, the company’s first profit in three years.
The positive result for the network comes as it grew its television revenue by 7.4% to $674m.
Ten said the increase in TV revenue came despite a 2.9% decline in the capital city free-to-air TV market during the same period. The increase included growth of 19.6% from Ten’s online catch-up and streaming service Tenplay.
In a vindication of its tie-up with Foxtel-aligned sales house MCN, Ten’s increase in television revenue was due to gains in market share, which grew by 2.2 share points to 24%.
However, the company reported a loss after tax for the year of $154.m, mainly due to writing down the book value of its broadcasting licences..
Ten’s net debt at August 31 was $53.5m, reduced from $131.5m at August 31 2015.
The results follow on from Ten taking its sales operations through saleshouse MCN and signing a new affiliate agreement with the Win Network and Southern Cross Media.
Ten chief executive officer, Paul Anderson, wrote: “Ten and MCN have driven revenue growth despite soft conditions in advertising markets, with the company’s revenue growth tracking well ahead of the market and revenue share in line with our expectations.
“In July this year, Ten achieved its 17th consecutive month of year-on-year revenue and revenue share growth.
“The arrangement with MCN has delivered clear benefits in terms of scale, audience reach and innovation in terms of integration opportunities for our clients, together with access to a more sophisticated and dynamic trading system.
On the new affiliation agreements, Anderson said: “The new agreements represent an increase in the affiliation fees that were received under Ten’s previous regional program supply agreements.
“The new agreements took effect on 1 July, 2016. Since then, the audiences for Ten’s programming has increased in regional Australia.”
The company’s improving performance saw Anderson and chief content officer, Beverley McGarvey, receive sizeable bonuses.
Anderson’s total package was worth $2.253m, while McGarvey’s was $1.52m.
Senior staff packages (click to enlarge)
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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Bit of a misleading headline. They made no profit in 2016, they actually made a loss of $154 million! EBITDA is not profit – even excluding their license write-down, they still made a loss.
It’s a positive sign but it looks like they’re not out of the woods just yet…
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More accurately, TEN managed to halve last year’s loss.
But if they go on with this kind of “return to profit”, they will be out of business.
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