Vision Group sees revenue fall on reduced circulation and low economic activity

A decline in revenue from commercial printing and circulation was the biggest contributor to the fall in net profit of New Vision Printing and Publishing Company Ltd in the half year to 31 December 2016, unaudited results released on Friday show.

Net revenue fell 10.2% from Shs48.73bn to Shs43.76bn. “The low revenue performance was partly due to reduced media spend and a general low economic activity level in the industry,” according to the financials.

This, in turn, impacted net profit which declined to Shs2.15bn from Shs3.7bn, a 41.6% fall.

Print advertising contributed the most – 35.3% – to the company’s revenue in 2015/2016, followed by circulation with 23.2% and television with 17.2%.

The company’s two biggest newspaper titles, New Vision and Bukedde, registered an 11% decline in total circulation compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa.

The company says it reduced production volumes in the period to match the decline in sales, which saw its biggest cost, cost of sales, falling by 8.9% to Shs32bn from Shs35.1bn in the previous period.

On the other hand, administrative expenses increased to Shs8.1bn from Shs7.58bn, a 7.67% rise.

Earnings per share declined to Shs28.1 compared to Shs48.1 in the previous period, a 41.6% fall. The company’s board of directors did not recommend an interim dividend.

The NVL counter closed at Shs545 on the Uganda Securities Exchange, unchanged from the previous day’s close. Its market capitalisation was at Shs41.69 billion.

Shareholders’ equity during the period fell 2.9% to Shs56bn. Total assets however rose 7.5% to Shs76bn.

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