Media company Avusa has warned shareholders that its second-half revenues will be "softer" as advertising spending continues to decline, but savings on printing costs and continued investment in digital platforms can offset the decrease, writes Thabiso Mochiko in Business Report.
Yesterday it reported a 12 percent rise in profit after tax to R128 million.
Revenue was also up by 12 percent to R2.3 billion.
Rajay Ambekar, a portfolio manager at Cadiz African Harvest, said the results were a "mixed bag", but overall the growth was "decent" given slowing trading conditions.
Avusa chief executive Prakash Desai said the firm had renegotiated the printing contracts for its magazines and newspapers in Gauteng in an open tender process, but most of the agreements were still with Caxton.
"The main thing was price and [based on new contracts] we will save tens of millions of rands," he said.
The company's media division, which houses flagship title Sunday Times and magazines as well as Career Junction and I-Net Bridge, managed a 4 percent increase in profit before exceptional items to R144 million, while revenue was 11 percent higher at R1.2 billion.
The media industry is one of the first to be hit by the economic downturn as companies reduce their advertising spend, which has grown by single digits this year compared with double digits last year.
Click here to read the full report, posted on Business Report's website.
