WINNIPEG – CanWest Global Communications Corp.’s Australian TV operation, The TEN Group pty Limited, reported lower revenues in the quarter ending May 31.
TEN saw consolidated revenues fall 10% from the same quarter last year, dropping from A$231.8 million to A$208.2 million. TEN’s consolidated EBITDA of A$30.3 million was down 50% compared with A$61.3 million in the previous fiscal year.
For the first three quarters of this fiscal, TEN’s consolidated revenue was down 7% over the same period last year, and its consolidated EBITDA was 26% lower.
CanWest will receive an interim distribution of A$39.2 million as TEN declared a dividend of A$0.075 per share. So far this fiscal, CanWest has received a total of A$102.7 million in distributions from TEN.
While TEN’s ratings are up, Australia’s advertising market is not, and the results were expected. “The Australian TV ad market was short and soft through the first half of the television broadcast year, which began in February, and we expected TEN’s first half television advertising share would be down from the previous year,” said Nick Falloon, TEN’s Executive Chairman.
“However, we believe that this downswing is temporary and that we will return to more normal ad market conditions in the near future.”
Once the ad market recovers, TEN is well positioned to benefit from its ratings gains in all key demographics this season, Falloon said. Shows such as Big Brother, Jamie’s Kitchen Australia, Honey We’re Killing the Kids, Australian Idol, and the best of the Australian Football League bode well for the season.
TEN’s out-of-home advertising divisions, Eye Corp., is also poised for growth with its recently announced 10-year UK deal to manage the advertising concessions with the Manchester Airport Group, which operates airports in Manchester, Nottingham East Midlands, and Humberside, said Tom Strike, President of CanWest MediaWorks International.
