<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>326500</docID> <postdate>2024-08-14 16:49:32</postdate> <headline>Profits plummet at Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-326507" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20190219001385979183-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Seven West Media's CEO says the past year has been tough for the company and the sector in general. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Liz Hobday</strong> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>Earnings have plummeted at Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media, with bottom-line net profit diving 69 per cent to $45 million for the full year.</strong></p> <p>The group owns the Seven Network and Perth masthead The West Australian with its television network the subject of a Four Corners expose on Monday, airing allegations of bullying and sexism and a toxic workplace culture.</p> <p>Things have not improved during the week, with Wednesday's 2023/24 results also revealing pre-tax earnings were down by a third to $187 million.</p> <p>"There is no doubt that FY24 was a tough year for Seven West Media and probably many in the sector," managing director and chief executive officer Jeff Howard told investors on a call.</p> <p>There was a muted response from investors with shares trading up to 16.5 cents after the results were announced before dipping to close at 15.5 cents. The stock was trading at 40 cents a year ago and has fallen by more than 60 per cent since then.</p> <p>Seven West is home to some of the best media professionals in Australia, Mr Howard said, but some employees have been told to leave.</p> <p>"The actions of some individuals do not reflect the values, behaviour and attitude of the business as a whole," he said.</p> <p>"We are focused on building a stronger, high performance-based culture that enables our great people to thrive and where unacceptable behaviour is not tolerated."</p> <p>In April, the company's previous chief executive and managing director James Warburton stepped down earlier than expected, ending a tenure plagued by scandal.</p> <p>It followed allegations heard in the Federal Court that the Seven Network paid for illicit drugs and sex workers to secure an interview with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.</p> <p>Less than a year earlier in June 2023, former elite soldier Ben Roberts-Smith resigned from his role as general manager of Seven West Media's Queensland operations.</p> <p>This was prompted by a Federal Court ruling that news reports he had committed war crimes were substantially true. The Victoria Cross recipient is waiting on a judgement in an appeal against these findings.</p> <p>In June, Seven West Media restructured into three divisions and implemented cost-cutting measures across the board in a bid to reduce costs by about $100 million.</p> <p>However, costs have climbed two per cent to $1.23 billion.</p> <p>One area of spending is artificial intelligence, with Seven West embedding staff from the AI company Databricks into its business, Mr Howard said.</p> <p>Artificial information technology can accurately predict audiences on the streaming platform Seven Plus 28 days in advance, he said.</p> <p>Overall, Seven West's revenue was down five per cent to $1.4 billion on the previous full year, while net debt climbed to $301 million.</p> <p>Perth title The West Australia recorded broadly flat revenue of $172 million, with pre-tax earnings down 13 per cent to $27 million.</p> <p>A bright spot for the company was its daily digital masthead The Nightly, which launched in February and had attracted a monthly audience of 2.3 million by June.</p> <p>After breaking even in its first months, it's expected The Nightly will make a profit in 2024/25.</p> <p>Seven's AFL broadcasting and this summer's cricket season, which features Australia against India, are also seeing momentum in advertising bookings.</p> <p>No dividend will be paid to Seven West investors.</p> </body>