Ten share price drops below 50c, taking it to lowest market capitalisation ever
Ten’s share price has continued to drop, closing at 49c today.
Last Thursday the troubled TV network saw its shares fall to 52c for the first time, giving the company a valuation of just $188m. Today’s drop to 49c, gives it a market capitalisation of $177.46m.
The share price drop comes at a time when ad spend across TV is actually up year-on-year, according to figures released yesterday by the Standard Media Index.
However, Ten’s revenue share for the month was down from 25.4% in March 2016 to 24.2% this year – with Seven claiming the bulk of the revenue share with 39.2% (up from 37.5% in March 2016) and Nine grabbing the second-largest slice of the pie with a share of 36.6% (down on March 2016’s 37.1%).
Last Wednesday, Ten told the ASX that it will update the market in a fortnight’s time on the state of its finances, with its results for the six months up to the end of February released on April 27.
In February, Ten warned the market that declines in advertising revenues meant the company was unprofitable and that by the end of its financial year in August it may have made losses of $20m-30m
Recent weeks have seen a drastic decline in Ten’s ratings fortunes thanks to its failure to find an audience for The Biggest Loser Transformed, which was eventually bumped to a lunchtime slot.
Critically, a $200m loan facility with CommBank expires on December 23, with no obvious sign of how Ten will meet this liability.
One potential bright spot for Ten is that its ratings are likely to stage something of a recovery after Easter when the popular Masterchef returns to its schedule.
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