APN, parent company of ARN, iHeartRadio and NZME, held its annual general meeting this morning, revealing a 25% increase in net profit after tax, driven heavily by its radio branches.

Radio nearly doubled its proportionate share of APN’s earnings in 2014 from 26% – 47%.

The annual report revealed large quarter on quarter growth for ARN in 2014, fronted by the rebranding of KIIS, which included the poaching of Kyle & Jackie O for breakfast.

APN CEO, Michael Miller said, “In 2014, ARN was, without question, the standout performer in the Australian media industry. This was driven by great management and an investment in talent and promotions in the key Sydney radio market, along with ongoing success in Adelaide and Brisbane.”

“At the end of 2014, APN announced the acquisition of 96FM in Perth, completing ARN’s national footprint. 96FM is being integrated into the KIIS network, creating a complete and consistent offering for national advertisers to reach the biggest audience of any metropolitan network.”

On a whole, APN reported an EBITDA of $164.1m and a NPAT of $74.7m.

Speaking about the progress of NZME, Miller said, “In September last year we merged three business, APN New Zealand Publishing, The Radio Network and GrabOne, into one combined entity – NZME.”

“​As part of the integration, NZME launched a new advertising proposition based on categories across the three businesses, these being News, Sport and Entertainment. These content categories are distributed by our radio, print and digital platforms.”

Commenting on the fact that the company has not paid a while it reduced debt, chairman Peter Cosgrove said: “The board is conscious that the company has not paid a dividend for some time,” and outlined a dividend policy and will reinstate payments when net debt to earnings (EBITDA) leverage is less than 2.5 times.