eMedia Holdings, the parent company of free-to-air broadcaster e.tv and 24-hour news channel eNCA, among other media assets, has warned that its profits will nosedive in the year ended 31 March 2016.
The group — formerly known as Seardel Investment Corporation — told shareholders via the JSE’s stock exchange news service that headline earnings per share are expected to fall by between 80% and 85% compared to the previous financial year.
Headline earnings from continuing operations are expected to decline by between 77% and 82%, it said.
eMedia attributed the slump in earnings to a sharp decline in market share, which translated into a loss of advertising revenue in the group’s core broadcasting asset, e.tv.
“This, together with the current economic climate and the increased investment into programming to recover the market share, has seen profits under pressure,” it said.
“The group also continues to re-invest into the multi-channel business for which very little revenue is currently earned.”
It also blamed the impact higher taxes and costs associated with the disposal of non-core assets for the poor performance. — (c) 2016 NewsCentral Media