Aspermont group chief executive Colm O’Brien said the company’s strategy had been to extend its brands across all distribution channels – print, online and events.
“During this financial year we have extended out print offering and our event presence as well as launched products online for used equipment, recruitment and mobile/tablet functionality,” O’Brien said.
Aspermont posted a revenue increase of about $A5.5 million, representing 22% year-on-year growth as well as an increase in underlying operating media earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation of about $A2.2 million, a year-on-year increase of 65%.
“Aspermont’s traditional mainstay continues to be the mining industry. However, we have – over the course of the past six years – increased our expansion into other sectors, particularly in the Australian market,” O’Brien said.
“In 2006, our Australian media revenue was $8.3 million, of which 17% was non-mining, but in the upcoming financial year this percentage of non-mining Australian revenue is expected to double.”
This shift in exposure is as a result of the Aspermont’s entry into the agricultural and environmental management sectors, coupled with existing assets in oil and gas, and construction.
“At a group level we will continue to expand our sectors over the next two years, having a proven track record in both organic entry and acquisition,” O’Brien said.
The company has also moved to consolidate its events business through a global partnership with Beacon Events, with the partnership covering all Aspermont current and planned live events including more than 20 events undertaken by Beacon in Asia.
“We are confident that the new partnership will continue to see strong growth in the events business, both in terms of existing events and a large expansion of the offering,” O’Brien said.
This financial year has produced good news on most fronts for the business-to-business publisher, particularly given recent concerns about the future of the general media sector.
O’Brien said the battleground of daily news in print did not impact Aspermont’s business.
“We have provided online daily news for 10 years behind a paywall for a range of our sectors. The model remains successful due to our willingness to invest in strong editorial, robust technology and integrated sales offerings.”
In terms of the company’s periodicals, he said Aspermont’s magazines provided in-depth analysis, reports and reviews rather than relying on current news.
“Our print products are feature-driven and are focused on the issues within the industrial sector. We continue to see growth in our print products, including plans for further launches of print brands.”
Aspermont is the publisher of International Longwall News.
