For the year ending December 31, 2022, Guardian Media Ltd (GML) reported profit before taxation of $3.9 million, compared to a $6.5 million profit in the prior year.
Revenues reported for the year were $117.8 million ($104.7 million–2021) reflecting an increase of $13 million or 12.5 per cent in advertising revenues.
The media group’s financials, which were reported yesterday, indicated that operating expenses increased year-over-year due to the company’s efforts to stimulate commercial interest, and to fund growth strategies across all business segments.
GML chairman, Peter Clarke, explained that 2022 opened without the much anticipated levels of commercial recovery and activity.
Additionally, he said the Russia-Ukraine war, supply chain challenges and financial market pressures forced businesses to focus on survival instead of advertising campaigns.
“As part of our 105th year celebrations, we at Guardian Media, spared no effort to reconnect advertisers with their customers by investing heavily in irresistible content, whilst continuing to be the trusted media partner across all platforms,” Clarke explained.
He added that during the year the company’s branded radio campaigns included the Caura Fest, Sangeet Premier League, bar crawls and other outside broadcasts, through which loyal listeners were again able to connect with their favourite on-air personalities.
“After introducing our citizens to iconic global motivational speaker Sadhguru in August, we covered the 2022 Caribbean Premier League, and acquired the rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar, as well as the English Premier League,” Clarke added.
He said the steady contribution of the newspaper was re-enforced by its hugely popular special publications and increasingly popular digital presence.
Combined, these campaigns stimulated increased activity and advertising spend.
“In similar fashion to 2021, the final quarter’s performance was very strong. In 2022, for the quarter ended December 31, Guardian Media reported profit before taxation of $10.3 million, just behind last year’s fourth quarter result of $11.5 million profit before taxation.
“These results were driven primarily by our successful 2022 FIFA World Cup Finals campaign,” Clarke further explained.
He added that the board has announced a final ordinary dividend of four cents per share. Preference shareholders will receive a final dividend of three per cent.
Dividends will be paid on June 15, 2023.