Macquarie Media Group has held its Interim Briefing for analysts in Sydney, where Chairman Tim Hughes commended the group on its “vastly improved margins”.
The group was listed on the stock exchange on 22 November last year and is on target to deliver on the promises made in its initial prospectus.
Key points from the results briefing include EBITDA of $23.2 million for the listed company’s first six months, in line with the full year’s forecast of $46 million.
Macquarie Regional Radioworks performed strongly during the reporting period, with average sales growth of 6.3%, which is above the market average, according to CEO Rhys Holleran.
Macquarie Regional Radioworks is pleased that its plans to grow national revenue are paying off, with national sales growing at a rate of 14.5% since the acquisition of the RG Capital and DMG Regional Radio groups by Macquarie.
The Charles Wooley program and other new offerings created in-house by MRRWorks were praised by Holleran for helping to deliver the increased national sales figures:
“Charles Wooley is much more relevant to the markets where we operate than other programs, and advertisers have been encouraging in their feedback about this programs…”
“It has been a great year for us when you consider the media landscape generally. Our growth is strong in national sales as a result of putting two larger assets together and working to attract national advertising business,” Holeran told analysts.
“Local direct advertising is still strong for us and still the majority of what we do. We have strong local revenues and are trying to balance that with strong regional appeal programs that deliver national advertiser results.”
Local revenue makes up 76% ($54.1 million) of total gross advertising revenue for MRRWorks and National sales revenue is $17 million (24%). Both income sectors are up for the company, which has also contained costs “in a challenging environment.”
Total revenue in the six months is $73.1 million and operating costs are $47 million, making a pro-forma half year profit of $26.1 million (EBITDA). Macquarie Media Group has total assets worth $877.5 million.
Holleran also highlighted the strong revenue and ratings performance of the group’s Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast stations.
Revenue, expense control and training are three key focus areas for MRRWorks in the next 12 months. A new traffic management system for ad bookings has been rolled out within the company, which will allow additional flexibility in booking advertising, especially for national clients. Holleran says MRRWorks stations continue to hold to the important principle of local community involvement.
“It’s important in an regional organisation like ours, that we spend time training and developing careers so we are not caught short when people move on,” says Holleran.
“We are in line with where we though it would be and EBITDA is bang on line with where we thought it would be at this time.”
The only hiccup for the highly successful results has been a delay in settling the acquisition of the Carlisle Broadband TV Group in Taiwan, which is not planned for finalization until the end of the financial year.
Chairman Tim Hughes says MMG has the capacity to borrow up to $300 million if it gets the opportunity to acquire other media asserts, which would probably be overseas.
Shares in Macquarie Media finished 1¢ higher at $2.75 after the results announcement.