• West Australian Newspapers Holdings Limited
• Website: thewest.com.au

Industry:

Media

Fiscal Year-End:

Jun 10

WAN is a Western Australia-based newspaper publisher. The company's primary asset is The West Australian newspaper (published Monday-Saturday), which accounts for about 80% of group EBIT and has a dominant position in the Perth newspaper market (around 70% of the total newspaper ad revenue). WAN also owns several WA regional newspapers, regional radio stations and presses.

WAN was listed on the ASX in 1991. Since then, the company has primarily focused on a range of cost-cutting initiatives to improve financial returns.

WAN operates in the Perth newspaper market. The West Australian is a tabloid newspaper. Its only Perth competitor (especially for ad dollars) is News Limited's Sunday Times; however, WAN only produces Monday to Saturday editions. The newspaper industry can be classified as mature. Its key drivers are 1) ad volume growth and yields, 2) circulation volumes (generally declining) and cover prices, 3) newsprint costs and 4) staff (most are employed under enterprise bargaining agreements).

WAN's key differentiating factors are its virtual monopoly status and impressive margins. News Limited's Sunday Times provides the only significant competition for ad dollars in the market. In Perth, the penetration of The Australian and AFR is quite low. WAN's culture of cost control has facilitated margin growth over the past 10 years. Its margins are the highest among Australian newspaper publishers Fairfax and APN.

WAN's revenue is primarily derived from local advertisers (retail and classifieds). The remainder is sourced from national advertisers and circulation revenue. WAN competes against News Limited's Sunday Times for ad dollars in the WA newspaper market. The West Australian is the only Monday-Saturday local daily paper. It has limited competition from News Limited's The Australian and Fairfax's Australian Financial Review.