Seven West Media Limited has released its 2021 Annual general meeting addresses and trading update.
The update showed that Seven is on track to win the TV ratings survey year, with or without the Tokyo Olympics, in total people. This will represent their first total people win since 2018.
Seven is well positioned to hit their target of a 40% share of the metropolitan TV advertising market in the current six-month period.
Revenue from 7plus has grown 145% since the start of the FY22 year, including post-Olympics growth of about 50% in September and October.
Seven’s target of $15 million to $20 million in new cost savings in FY22 is also on track. The revenue growth and cost savings indicates that the company will exceed analysts’ consensus forecast for FY22 EBITDA of approximately $260 million by between 7% and 10%, excluding any benefits from Prime.
Speaking at the address, Chairman Kerry Stokes (pictured) said “Our meeting comes at the end of a year which will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in dramatic changes to our work, viewing and leisure activities. While there were challenging conditions, Seven regained our dominance of the free-to-air market, reached 10 million viewers of our streamed content on 7Plus and lifted readership numbers in our newspapers.
“Seven Network achieved this extraordinary success on the back of marquee sports events, including the Tokyo Olympics, the AFL and, in particular, its finals season, and the summer of cricket. The combination of our premium sports programming with our continuing dominance of news and current affairs, as well as a refreshed programming schedule, were keys to our success.”
He also used his speech to call on the Government to commit to the regulation of prominence of Free-To-Air services on all types of televisions, and the extension of the anti-siphoning list to include online streaming services.
Managing director & chief executive officer James Warburton then spoke, saying “Our company is in much better shape than it was two years ago and we are not going to stop now.
“We will continue to work harder and smarter to make Seven West Media even stronger and more successful – and to grow its value for all our stakeholders.”