WA newspapers cautious as earnings and profits decline

West Australian Newspapers today announced a reduced profit figure of $24 million for the six months to December 31 2005, down almost 50 per cent on the same period last year.

The result was attributed to provisioning for redundancy payments and a major capital investment on new printing presses.

The results were underpinned by strong a performance from the publishing and broadcasting businesses, led by its flagship, The West Australian, which increased its profitability by 7.4 per cent over the corresponding period in 2004.

Total revenue for The West Australian for the first half of the year rose 6.1 per cent to $154.3 million and net advertising was up 5.2 per cent to $114.3 million.

Circulation revenue from the paper was $35.5 million, an increase of 6.9 per cent, which came about through a price increase in Monday to Friday editions, offset by a 0.9 per cent fall in weekday sales.

The company said that the results were largely in line with the annual business plan, but expressed caution over the prospects for revenue growth through advertising in the short term.

On the whole the results were softer than the first six months of 2004, and static performances from the group's radio, Hoyts cinemas 50 per cent joint venture, Quokka and ColourPress businesses contributed to this.

On-off items affecting the results include $26.6 million set aside for redundancy payments and $13.4 million in depreciation of old printing equipment.