• Fairfax Media Limited
• Website: www.fxj.com.au

Industry:

Media

Fiscal Year-End:

Jun 10

Fairfax (FXJ) publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review. In 2004, FXJ acquired INL's NZ publishing assets, granting it control of major NZ mastheads. It also has a stable of community and regional newspapers, as well as specialist magazines. Fairfax Digital provides online news, classified and auction websites. In 2007, FXJ merged with Rural Press and later that year acquired Southern Cross Broadcasting's metro radio.

John Fairfax & Son listed in 1956 with The Sydney Morning Herald (est.1831) and The Age (est.1854). In 1987, Warwick Fairfax privatised it, but receivership in 1990 ended the family's 149-year relationship. Conrad Black's Tourang syndicate relisted Fairfax in 1992. In May 2007, Fairfax Media merged with Rural Press, marking a return by the family via major shareholder John B. Fairfax, who owns about 14% of the merged company.

Over the past few years, FXJ has expanded its presence in the media sector, diversifying its exposure into metro publishing, rural and regional publishing, online and radio. The media sector is evolving with ongoing structural changes. Print circulation has been trending downwards at a rate of about 1% per annum, whereas online has been growing strongly in both display and classified advertising, although the slowing economy has interrupted this growth profile.

FXJ operates Australia's premier newspaper franchise, targeting the AB demographic. It is the only local broadsheet paper in the Melbourne and Sydney markets. Its competitor, News Limited, has tabloid formats, with the exception of The Australian. FXJ has made a significant investment in building up its online presence. FXJ's suite of online assets, metro newspapers, radio and regional publishing represents a more resilient media business with lower earnings volatility.

FXJ's customers are advertisers and readers. Advertisers range from national display advertisers to classified customers (selling cars, real estate and companies seeking employees). FXJ confronts direct competition from News Limited via The Australian (broadsheet) and its tabloids (although they are targeting a slightly different market from FXJ's broadsheets). The suburban newspapers also provide competition for classifieds.