Kenya’s largest media house Nation Group has issued a cautionary statement, warning of a profit decline by at least 25 per cent.
The media house attributes the decline to a challenging business environment occasioned by drastic rise in fuel prices, depreciation of the Kenya Shilling, rising interest rates and higher taxes. “In addition, the increase in global prices of newsprint coupled with a weakened Kenya Shilling against the dollar and higher distribution costs arising from fuel prices have resulted in significant incremental direct costs compared to [the] previous year,” noted Angela Namwakira, Company Secretary Nation Media Group.
The board is banking on recent investments made to accelerate product innovation, diversify revenue streams and transformation of the organisation into an agile, customer-centric and data driven to deliver long-term shareholder value.
The media house posted a significant decline in net earnings to KSh 2.9 Million at the end of the half year period ended 30th June 2023. This is compared to net profit of KSh 247.8 Million in H1 2022. It attributed the decline in profitability to the drastic rise in the cost of imported raw materials, particularly newsprint, and the depreciation of the Shilling against the US Dollar.
The Group’s performance during the first half of this year was, however boosted by growth of its digital footprint which saw a rise of 14 per cent to 59.5 million users compared to 52.2 million users last year.
Nation Media Group Profit Declines 98.8% to KSh 2.9Million (kenyanwallstreet.com)
