Fairfax Media: Metro Media and Radio Revenues Up, Publishing Revenues Down

Fairfax Media Limited (ASX:FXJ) Chief Executive Officer Greg Hywood delivered a presentation at the Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney in May, stating that Metro Media and radio revenues of the company were up, as its traditional publishing business struggled against digital media growth.

Hywood revealed that the company's revenues are up by "just under" 1 percent for the period between January and April, compared with figures from last year. "While this is pleasing, it is important to note that we continue to incur costs to take advantage of growth opportunities," said Hywood in a company release.

He noted that Metro Media's revenues, which includes Domain, has jumped 7 percent. Domain, in particular, grew by as much as 54 percent, thanks to its recent acquisition of MMP and Allhomes. The company's radio operations also rose by 9 percent, but figures do not include revenues from 96FM, which the company sold. However, the revenue figures include four weeks of revenues generated by Macquarie Radio Network.

Publishing revenues are down 7 percent as well. The same is true for Australian Community Media, which is down by 8 percent.

Fairfax Media is one of the London-based audio streaming platform's content partner from the land Down Under. Audioboom's (London AIM:BOOM) other Australian content partners include the Brisbane Strikers FC and Hockey Australia, as well as Triple M brands, including Southern Cross Austereo.

Audioboom's content partners uses its platform to record, broadcast and share audio clips to their target audience. Audioboom has 3,000 content partners worldwide and 4 million registered users. Its content partners include The Telegraph, The Guardian, CBS, Sky Sports, Premier League, Reuters, CNBC, Universal and Fox.

AdLarge represents the company's ad inventory in the United States. Meanwhile, WideOrbit Inc., an ad management service provider in the U.S., helps the company distribute and monetise its podcasts and other on-demand content.

The company's mobile app was downloaded in May for 1,275,000 times during the first quarter of the year, according to the results of its key performance indicators. Meanwhile, the number of listens on the site during the same period was 75 million.

"May was another record month, not just for our reported KPIs but also for other key metrics including monthly active users, listens, and follows. Together with strong performance in March and April, the quarter was comfortably our best to date. With our current rate of growth we are on track to meet or exceed the full year expectations for all these performance measures," said Rob Proctor, Audioboom's chief executive.

Fairfax Media Limited is among Australia's biggest diversified media companies. The company runs The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. The company is valued at $2.5 billion and trades between 0.73 and 1.11 in a 52-week period.

Contact the writer: a.lu@ibtimes.com.au