Seven West Media has posted a drop in profit and revenue for FY25, as soft advertising conditions and the end of its Meta agreement hit the TV and publishing business.
Overall revenue for the 2025 financial year dropped by 4 per cent, to $1.35 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes down by 23 per cent, to $116 million from $151 million. Profits after tax plunged by 62 per cent, from $45 million in FY24 to $17 million.
However, despite the overall decline, the company delivered solid second-half momentum, with EBITDA rising six per cent and underlying NPAT up 33 per cent, consistent with the guidance provided earlier in the year.
Seven’s results clearly reflect advertising market pressures but are lifted by strong digital growth, labelled by Managing Director and CEO Jeff Howard as a foundation to “kickstart growth.”
“Obviously the story of the year was the first half versus the second half,” he told Mediaweek. “We’ve delivered EBITDA growth of 6 per cent in the second half, which is the first half of growth for Seven West Media since FY22.
“That was underpinned by a bunch of factors, including 7plus audience growth, revenue growth and share growth has been excellent.
“The audience stabilisation for Total TV has been strong. We’ve kept costs under control and delivered the earnings guidance that we put out.
“The work we’ve done on our strategy around driving a digital future, optimising our traditional assets, managing our cost responsibly, and finding new opportunities, all continues to point the organisation towards a growth agenda.”
He added, “I’m super-optimistic about where Seven is at and the opportunity we’ve got ahead of us to continue driving change.”