AME posts earnings increase

Johannesburg - African Media Entertainment [JSE:AME] on Thursday reported diluted headline earnings per share of 191.4 cents for the six months ended September 30 from 138.8 cents previously.

Headline earning per share increased 38% to 195.2 cents.

Revenue increased by 21% to R106 million, while operating profit increased 39% to R24.75 million.

Comprehensive income increased by 38% over the previous period to R18.7 million, and after paying tax of R7.6 million, the group generated R21.7 million in cash from its operating activities during the period.

In terms of its Algoa FM and OFM radio operations, the company noted that WDB Investment Holdings had acquired a controlling interest in a BEE company, which holds 10% of Algoa FM.

"Algoa FM's revenues were better than the same period last year notwithstanding the fact that last year's revenues included significant spend relating to the 2010 FIFA World Cup," it said.

African Media Entertainment added that ICASA had approved the licence amendment which extends its broadcast footprint of Algoa FM to now include Knysna, George and Mossel Bay.

Meanwhile OFM enjoyed a fairly good six months, where expectations had largely been met, the group said, adding that cost control had been effective on both radio stations.

Mahareng Publishing, its joint venture with CTP, attained critical mass with the purchase of Bloemfontein Courant, a community newspaper, and should attain profitability this year, the company said.

"United Stations delivered a record set of results for the period under review. A year ago United Stations started handling the national sales of KAYA FM, which contributed to a steep year-on-year growth in advertising revenue.

"Kaya FM, along with Capricorn FM, have been the drivers of new business development as they provide attractive audiences to categories of advertisers that United Stations was previously unable to reach," it said.

The group spent R6 million on capital expenditure and R4 million on the settlement of a dispute relating to the purchase of United Stations.

Meanwhile, R1.6 million was utilised to repurchase AME shares and additional loans of R2.2 million were made to associated companies. The group ended the period with cash resources of R54 million.

Looking ahead, the media company said that if the current trading conditions persisted, it remained confident of the continued success of the group for the remainder of the year.