Nairobi Securities Exchange listed media house Standard Group has issued a profit warning for the second time in three years citing “prevailing adverse market conditions in the second half of the year” particularly in August.
The company, which runs the The Standard newspaper, KTN TV stations, Radio Maisha and a number of other media platforms said earnings for the period ended 31st December 2017 will be at least 25% lower compared to the same period in 2016.
The warning is a surprise given that most of the mainstream media houses have always reported booming business during election years given the demand for advertising space by politicians.
“The business environment since August 2017 has been affected by the prolonged and disruptive election period. This has had a negative impact on the economy both in terms of volumes of businesses transacted and shrinkage of cash in circulation, thereby affecting our revenues and cash significantly.” The company said in a filing at the stock exchange.
In the first half of the year, the company reported a 10% increase in top-line revenues to Sh 2.44 Billion while profit after tax rose by 6.55% to Sh 34.3 Million. In the same period, Sam Shollei was fired as CEO after a “fallout with some key people in the company’s board”