Southern Cross Media boss John Kelly said it’s been a ‘difficult half’

Southern Cross Media, which owns Triple M and Hit radio networks, has recorded a huge fall in profit as it cuts costs and weighs up the proposed acquisition by ARN Media.

Southern Cross Media chief executive John Kelly says trading over the six months to December was “difficult” after the company recorded a huge drop in net profit.

The company – the owner of Triple M and Hit radio networks – reported a 71 per cent drop in net profit of $4.4m for the six months to December 31 from a year earlier.

Revenue fell by 2.9 per cent to $252.6m, and its underlying earnings plunged by nearly 30 per cent to $31.1m, after being impacted by tougher economic conditions including a subdued advertising market.

Mr Kelly said the company had undertaken numerous actions to improve its financial results, including a cost management review which has delivered $30m in annualised savings.

“What we are pointing to is that our full-year result will be substantially better because of what we are seeing with LiSTNR and what we are seeing with cost out,” he said on Thursday.

“In six months the results have gone down, but we’ve really laid the groundwork for an improved 2024 full-year result and in particular an improvement in 2025.”

SCA’s LiSTNR network has 1.8 million users, and it rose by 60 per cent year-on-year.

Southern Cross Media boss John Kelly.

The company also remains in discussions with ARN Media – the owner of KIIS FM and Gold – who have put forward a proposed acquisition of SCA, but no agreement has been reached.

“It’s a highly complex transaction … it’s ongoing, it’s a collaborative process, it’s an open process, we continue to work collaboratively with them in assessing the deal, in particular understanding the ARN NewCo part of the deal,” he said.

“The new news in our result is about the $30m cost out, about LiSTNR breaking even … all those factors weren’t recognised or known at the end of October when the offer was provided.”

But Mr Kelly also said, “there is no certainty that a transaction will eventuate.”

SCA’s results also showed the company’s net debt rose to $106.6m, up 4.1 per cent.

Overall radio revenue fell by $4.1m, down 2.2 per cent, which television revenues fell by 11.1 per cent.

An interim ordinary dividend of 1c per share fully franked will be paid on April 12.

Originally published as Southern Cross Media boss John Kelly said it’s been a ‘difficult half’