Seven Network has taken a crushing blow as Seven West Media, chaired by Kerry Stokes, took a 69 per cent dive in profits to $45million for the full year.
The group owns the Seven Network and Perth masthead The West Australian with its television network the subject of a Four Corners exposé on Monday.
ABC award-winning journalist Louise Milligan aired allegations of bullying and sexism and a toxic workplace culture in the bombshell investigative piece Don’t Speak.
Things have only gone downhill since then, with Wednesday’s 2023/24 results also revealing pre-tax earnings were down by a third to $187 million.
Managing director and chief executive officer Jeff Howard had a tense call with investors in the face of those results.
‘There is no doubt that FY24 was a tough year for Seven West Media and probably many in the sector,’ Mr Howard told them.
However, 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.
Seven Network has taken a crushing blow as Seven West Media, chaired by Kerry Stokes, 83, (pictured) took a 69 per cent dive in profits to $45million for the full year
Seven West Media is home to some of the best media professionals in Australia, Mr Howard said, but some employees have been told to leave.
‘The actions of some individuals do not reflect the values, behaviour and attitude of the business as a whole,’ he said.
‘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.’
The company’s previous chief executive and managing director James Warburton stepped down in April, earlier than expected, ending a tenure plagued by scandal.
It followed allegations heard in the Federal Court that Seven Network paid for illicit drugs and sex workers to secure an interview with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
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.
The group owns the Seven Network and Perth masthead The West Australian with its television network the subject of a Four Corners exposé on Monday
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.
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.
However, costs have climbed two per cent to $1.23 billion.
One area of spending is artificial intelligence, with Seven West Media embedding staff from the AI company Databricks into its business, Mr Howard revealed.
ABC award-winning journalist Louise Milligan aired allegations of bullying and sexism and a toxic workplace culture in the bombshell investigative piece Don’t Speak
Artificial information technology can accurately predict audiences on the streaming platform Seven Plus 28 days in advance, he said.
Overall, Seven West Media’s revenue was down five per cent to $1.4 billion on the previous full year, while net debt climbed to $301 million.
Perth title The West Australia recorded broadly flat revenue of $172 million, with pre-tax earnings down 13 per cent to $27 million.
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.
After breaking even in its first months, it’s expected The Nightly will make a profit in 2024/25.
Seven Network’s AFL broadcasting and this summer’s cricket season, which features Australia against India, are also seeing momentum in advertising bookings.
No dividend will be paid to Seven West Media investors.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Seven Network for comment.
Wednesday’s 2023/24 results revealed pre-tax earnings were down by a third to $187 million, forcing new CEO Jeff Howard (pictured) to have a tense call with investors
It comes after Seven West Media slashed 150 editorial staff in a round of redundancies which claimed big names including Queenslanders newsreader Sharyn Ghidella and veteran weatherman Paul Burt.
Seven Network’s recently appointed news and current affairs boss Anthony De Ceglie has been replacing sections leaders across the country with younger managers.
He has also introduced a Friday night comedy spot and astrology to the news.
Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide all have fresh news directors, and new executive producers have been put in charge of Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise and Spotlight.
The cost-cutting bloodbath also saw the axing of veterans Robert Ovadia, Andrew Frampton and seasoned Melbourne crime reporter Cameron Baud, who is known among friends as the ‘Harvester of Sorrow’ due to his grim news beat.
On the Sydney front, Ovadia – perhaps the most high profile of all the figures axed up until Ghidella’s – has announced he will take Seven to the Fair Work Commission for unfair dismissal.
Daily Mail Australia previously reported Ovadia allegedly sent a series of strange, doctored images to a young female reporter before he was dumped.
The company’s previous chief executive and managing director James Warburton (right) stepped down in April, earlier than expected, ending a tenure plagued by scandal
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