Group chief executive officer Colm O’Brien said the company had flagged there would be a significant investment program to underpin the newly-formed events business and to support the launch of a Portuguese mining news service from the company’s Brazil office.
Media business revenue grew 25%, or $4.3 million, for first half of FY2013 to $21.5M; debt was reduced by $450,000 to $4.175M; and cash was increased by $277,000 to $3.47M year-on-year.
While the company recorded a 64% decline in EBITDA to $1.3M, if $1.1M of investments for the half were added back, the $2.4M figure compared to $3.7 in 2012 is more reflective of year-on-year operational performance of the company.
“Overall EBITDA is approximately $500,000 or 14% below our internal targets for this half,” O’Brien said.
“There has been a softening in the Australian market that has mainly impacted the events division – this will flow through to the publishing division over the second half of the year.
“Our UK publishing division continues to show growth year-on-year, with our flagship Mines & Money London conference up 20% on the prior year.”
These results reflect the first period Aspermont has reported its Waste Management and Environment (WME) and Beacon Group businesses as part of its consolidated group totals.
“These businesses have now been successfully integrated within the group and we anticipate increases in margin over the course of the next 12 months,” O’Brien said.
“Both of these divisions are in the process of new product launches and further investment in resources to deliver future revenue streams.”
Aspermont has invested heavily in its online publishing division, with the headline act on this front being imminent launch of Noticias de Mineracao Brasil, which will follow the successful model of MiningNews.net in Australia and will be a pilot for further country launches.
The company has also invested online in the used equipment sector with the global Mascus brand; a new agricultural portal to complement its key print masthead, Farming Ahead; relaunched its environmental offering, Business Environment Network; and relaunched its recruitment jobs boards.
O’Brien said tough print revenue conditions were experienced in the Australian resources market, driven mainly by a softening in capital markets, while the agricultural and construction sectors were also static.
Despite the challenging print advertising conditions, Aspermont launched two new magazines in the period –Coal Asia Pacific and Inside Safety.
Inside Safety caters for a crucial sector of products and services that are relevant across a number of the company’s existing publishing sectors including mining, oil and gas, construction and waste management.
Coal APAC joins Aspermont’s portfolio of energy products – including Coal USA and Australian Longwall magazine – and captures coal developments in emerging Asian markets, while also providing a medium for the surface coal mining sector in Australia.
“Trading conditions for the remainder of the year will be shadowed by softer capital market activities and general ongoing uncertainty,” O’Brien said.
“We will look to provide an update after out Mines & Money Hong Kong event at the end of March.”
