Fairfax calls halt to share trading

With its share price a 93 cents – a fifth of its 2007 high – trading in Fairfax Media shares has been halted while the company considers raising additional capital. The company expects to make an announcement on Monday (March 2) allowing trading to resume. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Fairfax said it was currently considering capital management initiatives. On Monday, it reported a $364.3 million net loss (after tax, impairment charges and significant items) for the six months to December 31. Without these, profit before tax was $370 million). Like most of the company’s divisional half-year results, revenue from Australian printing was down 6.4 per cent to $50.8 million, leading to a reduction in earnings of almost 14 per cent. One bright point was an increase in revenue from online publishing, up almost 14 per cent to $118.8 million to $135.1, leading to a 13.3 per cent increase in earnings. Presenting the results, chairman Ronald Walker said Fairfax was delivering “the very best possible results in an exceptionally difficult economy. “The board remains fully focused on operational performance, prudent management of the balance sheet, and support for management in challenging times.” He says diversification of media assets over the past several years has made the company “quite unique in our industry”, making a significant difference to the results. This, he says “will help boost our future performance when conditions improve”.