Matt Stanton, nine months in as Nine CEO, has given a glimpse into where he’s going to be applying some of that cash from the sale of Domain.
He sees value in upskilling systems internally and in creating more value from the company’s deep archive of content, all while keeping an eye out for the odd, so far unnamed, acquisition.
Nine, in its half year results, also acknowledged the possibility of applying capital to “strategically aligned, and value accretive” opportunities for acquisitions and divestments.
However, Stanton is also investing, with a focus on AI and data capabilities, organically in the business in the short to medium term.
This is about “accelerating our ability to generate value for consumers and advertisers through our digital assets, by utilising our content and data”.
“We are expediting the investment in our integrated consumer platform, aiming to bring all of our users together with one single sign on one consumer data platform,” he told market analysts in a briefing on Nine’s full year results.
“We are upskilling our analytics capability and our AI deployment, both of which are expected to create opportunities across content and advertising.”
He said Nine had deployed enterprise AI tools across all of nine, including Google's Gemini AI platform to more than 80% of employees.
“We will be relaunching a new and improved nine App Manager as we continue to see a significant opportunity to bring Australia's 2 million plus SMEs onto the nine platform in a more seamless and profitable way.
“We have also agreed to invest in the digitalisation of nine archives, digitalising almost 200 years of publishing and 70 years of broadcast content, making nine the most potent and reliable source of Australia's story.
“As the content is digitalised, Australia's history will be available like never before. There will be opportunities to license this unique content to third parties, while we also expect to be able to use AI tools to enable the creation of incremental content and experiences.”
These investments are expected to total around $50 million in the current financial year.
“Having been in a seat now for nine months, I am more convinced than ever about the opportunities ahead for nine,” he said.
This includes reshaping the business in recognition of the growth in digital video, a changing mix of short and long form content convergence of delivery platforms and the continued development of technology and AI to drive growth.
“We're also focused on growth opportunities underpinned by continuing investment in the digital video market, a streaming first approach, a sharper focus on commercialisation and an executive team aligned around group value creation across our three business units, we see strengths and opportunities,” he said.
The media group’s share from its 60% holding in Domain is expected to be A$1.4 billion in cash proceeds, net of capital gains tax.
The company intends to distribute a portion of that to shareholders via a fully franked special dividend of between 47 and 49 cents a share.
A slide from the full year results presentation:
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