Media company Nine has notched up record profits for 2021/22 and will buy back up to 10 per cent of its shares.
Its statutory net profit reached $315 million, up 71 per cent on the previous full year, off the back of a 15 per cent increase in revenues to $2.7 billion.
The statutory profit figure was however weighed down by $58 million in extra costs, mostly due to a widespread restructure and expenses associated with leasing at Media House in Melbourne.
Nine will pay a dividend of seven cents per share fully franked, making a record payout of 14 cents per share for the full year.
It will also launch a year long on-market share buyback starting on September 12 to acquire up to 10 per cent of its issued capital.
"As the macro economic outlook remains uncertain, we are particularly confident in our ability to grow revenue share and further strengthen our relative position throughout this period," deputy chief financial officer Graeme Cassells said in an investor webcast.
Rival Seven West announced a similar buyback move earlier in August.
Earnings from Nine's digital assets, which include Stan, 9Now, Domain and several online mastheads, grew by 43 per cent during the full year, taking their contribution to more than half of Nine's earnings total.
That was a result of the company's digital transformation strategy, which is tracking ahead of targets, Nine chairman Peter Costello said in the company's release to the share market.
The company also said it had diversified its overall earnings base away from advertising, with 30 per cent of its revenues now coming from subscriptions and licensing.
There were some headwinds. Chief executive Mike Sneesby said Nine was expecting to deal with wage inflation, namely a base wage increase of about three per cent.
Its publishing division, including mastheads The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, saw pre-tax earnings lift 53 per cent to $62 million, with more than half of the revenue in this area coming from digital.
Nine's broadcast division reported pre-tax earnings of $401 million from revenues of $1.4 billion, with pre-tax earnings from radio growing 81 per cent following a restructure.
Nine said a third of its radio audience was listening through digital devices.
Television posted earnings growth across linear and streaming of 19 per cent, to $61 million, with highlights including the Australian Open, Lego Masters, and Married at First Sight.
Nine planned to use any softness in the advertising market as an opportunity to increase the company's market share, Mr Sneesby said.
Streaming service Stan, which has reached more than 2.5 million active subscribers, had revenue growth of 22 per cent thanks to an uplift in sport and entertainment.
But non-sporting content costs at Stan were up 16 per cent as a result of its 2020 NBCUniversal output deal and the cost of original productions.
There was also a level of consolidation in the streaming market overall as consumers deal with post-COVID inflation, according to Mr Sneesby.
"We're expecting what we expected to see, which is a level of flattening off, but I continue to reiterate that Stan has plenty of growth ahead of it," he said.
