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Nine Entertainment chair Peter Costello says the media group has rebounded from Covid

Media group has admitted it was buffeted by a tough advertising market during the pandemic.

Nine AGM at One Den Denison St, North Sydney. CEO Mike Sneesby. Photographed Thursday 11th November 2021. Photograph by James Brickwood.
Nine AGM at One Den Denison St, North Sydney. CEO Mike Sneesby. Photographed Thursday 11th November 2021. Photograph by James Brickwood.
The Australian Business Network

Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello has conceded the “turbulence of Covid” has “heavily impacted” advertising revenue but the company has been finally able to rebound.

In his address at Nine’s annual general meeting on Thursday, he said in the 2021 financial year, “Nine staged a remarkable recovery”.

“The advertising market, which had turned down so sharply in March 2020, rebounded through October, November and December last year and it has now settled at, if not above, the trajectory it had pre-Covid,” he said.

Nine reported “strong profit growth” for the 2021 financial year with underlying earnings up 43 per cent and underlying profit after tax jumping 83 per cent.

Mr Costello also acknowledged the importance of striking important content deals with social media giants Facebook and Google as part of the Federal Government’s News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code.

He said it would help “recompense the cost of employing creators to produce the work which will ensure the long-term vibrancy of our publishing business as we continue to produce quality and challenging journalism”.

Nine suffered a major cyber attack in March, which severely impacted both its digital, print and television assets and said consequently the company had “significantly upgraded our defensive systems as a result”, he said.

“Nine has made cyber defence a key priority,” Mr Costello said.

Chief executive Mike Sneesby, who took over from Hugh Marks earlier this year, said in the 2021 financial year the company achieved a good result “despite a difficult quarter”.

However, Mr Sneesby admitted the “recovery in the radio has lagged television”.

He also said consumers were changing their television viewing habits and that the company’s streaming service, 9Now, has become a more important way for Australians to view live television.

Nine shares ended up 2.9 per cent at $3.04.

Read related topics:CoronavirusNine Entertainment
Sophie Elsworth
Sophie ElsworthEurope Correspondent

Sophie is Europe correspondent for News Corporation Australia and began reporting from Europe in November 2024. Her role includes covering all the big issues in Europe reporting for titles including The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, daily and Sunday Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and Brisbane's Sunday Mail and Adelaide's The Advertiser and Sunday Mail as well as regional and community brands. She has worked at numerous News Corp publications throughout her career and was media writer at The Australian, based in Melbourne, for four years before moving to the UK. She has also worked as a reporter at the Herald Sun in Melbourne, The Advertiser in Adelaide and The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. Sophie regularly appears on TV and is a Sky News Australia contributor appearing on primetime programs including Credlin and The Kenny Report, a role she continues while in Europe. She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees and grew up on a sheep farm in central Victoria.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/nine-entertainment-chair-peter-costello-says-the-media-group-has-rebounded-from-covid/news-story/f2647deedcc902923e62f7e5af3d5d6b