Profits at media giant Nine Entertainment have fallen almost a third to $134.9 million for the full year.
The company's accounts released to the share market on Wednesday show its statutory net profits dropped 31 per cent to the end of June 2024.
Nine owns some of Australia's biggest media platforms including Channel Nine, streaming service Stan, talkback radio stations 2GB and 3AW, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review.
Its revenue stands at $2.6 billion, down three per cent, with earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) at $517 million, down 12 per cent.
In June, long-time chair Peter Costello announced he would leave the company, following an altercation with a journalist at Canberra airport.
New chair Catherine West said in a statement the company was performing well in a challenging market.
Chief executive Mike Sneesby, who came under fire from his employees when he carried the Olympic torch in Paris, agreed with her assessment.
"In a year of challenging economic and advertising market conditions, there were some clear positives in this result," he said.
At digital streamer Stan, EBITDA increased 24 per cent to $46 million, while at real estate website Domain, profits lifted 26 per cent to $137 million.
But it was a different story for Nine's larger TV and publishing divisions: EBITDA for the television division fell 32 per cent to $208 million, publishing profits fell seven per cent to $153 million, while audio division profits plunged a third to $8.4 million.
In the current financial year, Nine recently had strong audiences and revenue across platforms thanks to its broadcast of the Paris Olympics and the network is also covering the Paralympics, Mr Sneesby said.
The Paris Games coverage reached an unprecedented national daily average audience of almost 10 million people.
Nine has spent $305 million to secure the Olympic broadcast rights including the Games in Brisbane in 2032.
While Games-related advertising and subscription revenue is expected to total more than $160 million, the company said it expected the venture to break even.
Nine cut costs by $65 million during 2023/24 and in June said it would eliminate 200 jobs or about four per cent of its almost 5000 staff.
The cuts came as as a commercial deal with social media giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, ended.
Nine expects to cut underlying costs by another $50 million in the 2025 financial year, making for a cost reduction of about $100 million over two years, said chief financial officer Matt Stanton.
Staff at Nine mastheads went on a five-day strike in July over pay and conditions during enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations.
The strike also followed a controversy in May over Nine's handling of historical complaints made against former senior news boss Darren Wick.
Mr Sneesby acknowledged the public commentary about the company's culture and promised the issue was being taken "incredibly seriously".
Meanwhile, Nine is talking to major AI platforms about the use of its content and has updated its websites to stop AI platforms using it without permission, Mr Sneesby said.
The company has also decided not to extend its on-market share buyback.
Nine spent $68 million on the buyback in 2023/24, taking the total spend to more than $220 million over two years, Mr Stanton confirmed.
A fully franked dividend of 4.5 cents per share will be payable on October 24.
Nine shares are trading around $1.34 and were above $2 in August 2023.
