Nine Entertainment released their H1 FY26 results on February 24 with Revenue of $1.14b and Group EBITDA before Specific Items of $201m, up 6% on H1 FY25.
Much has of course happened for the company since year end as part of their ‘strategic transformation’, including the sale of Nine Radio, the acquisition of digital outdoor media platform QMS Media and the conversion of Nine’s Northern NSW TV business (NBN) and Nine Darwin from wholly entities to affiliate. The latter was only made public with the release of the results with Nine Darwin now to be owned and operated by WIN Network.
Nine Chief Executive Officer Matt Stanton said:
“From a strategic perspective, since our FY25 result, we have completed the sale of our stake in Domain to CoStar at a 60% premium, delivering a fully franked 49 cents special dividend to our shareholders. In January, we announced the acquisition of QMS, for $818m net of tax, equating to a post cost synergy multiple of 6.5x. We have also agreed to sell Nine Radio and restructure Nine’s affiliates NBN and Nine Darwin, in transactions which will net Nine around $234m, inclusive of capital gains tax offsets.
These transactions will create a higher-growth, digitally powered and resilient Nine Group for our consumers, advertisers, people and shareholders. This positions Nine well for the future, enabling the Group to withstand industry disruption and deliver long-term sustainable value to our shareholders. The strategic transformation represents a step change in Nine’s asset portfolio, with digital growth businesses expected to account for 60% of revenue from FY27, up from 45% in FY25.
CY26 has started on a positive note. We are in the process of completing these company-changing transactions, and we’re seeing continued strength in the subscription markets and a more positive start in advertising – all underpinned by Nine’s strong content slate. It’s an important time for Nine, and one that is laying the foundations for our future growth.”
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