Southern Cross posts first-half profit bump, strikes TV deal with ADH
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The news: Southern Cross Austereo has posted a 5.5% first-half profit bump and announced the completion of its TV divestment, after it struck a deal with ADH Holdings to offload a string of regional licences.
The numbers: Southern Cross booked a 5.3% revenue lift to $209.7 million for the half, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $24.1 million, up 24.6% on the same period last year. Net profit after tax including discontinued operations was $3.2 million, up 5.5% on the same period last year.
The company said it expects audio revenues to continue apace into the second half of the 2025 financial year. Third-quarter revenues are tracking roughly 6% ahead of where they were the same period last year, the company said.
Southern Cross also flagged that it expects to deliver a non-revenue related cost base below $270 million for the 2025 and 2026 financial years, with second-half cost cutting now complete.
The company has now completed its divestment from TV. Its sale of three licenses to Network 10 has sealed regulatory approvals and is due to close on 1 March, the company said Thursday. Meanwhile, it has also signed a binding proposal with Australian Digital Holdings to offload the remaining regional licenses.
The ADH agreement is subject to negotiation and final transaction documentation. The parties aim to complete this transaction in the coming weeks, the company said, at a value of about $6.35 million.
What they said: “SCA has delivered a strong result for the first half of FY25 as we continue on our transformation journey,” SCA chief executive John Kelly said in a statement on Thursday.
“The SCA Team have worked very hard and we have delivered on all our key commitments — with continued operating momentum translating to improved financial performance.
“We highlighted our strong operating momentum from 2H FY24 at our FY24 Results, this momentum continued into the first half of FY25, and we have maintained dominant audience shares in our core metro, regional and digital audio markets.
“Despite continued challenging advertising market conditions, our focus on executing our key commitments, including a focus on revenue growth, LiSTNR profitability, cost and capital discipline has translated to improved financial performance, with Audio EBITDA up 47%, on the back of 5% Audio revenue growth.”
The sources: ASX announcement, ASX announcement
