SWM Strategy

During the Pandemic there has been speculation around whether Kerry Stokes would privatise Seven West via his private investment vehicle Australian Capital Equity or potentially take West Australian Newspapers private and sell the TV network to News Corp.

News Corp has dampened rumours it was looking to buy Seven and was focusing on turning pay TV business Foxtel around.

Mr Warburton said there was "no truth" to rumours Stokes was looking to take WAN private, stating it hasn't been discussed at the board level.

Ryan Stokes, whose father Kerry Stokes is chairman of Seven West Media and Seven Group, said Seven West was continuing a "transformation journey".

"I think in the last quarter that the disruption with COVID was probably more acute for media than any other sector and certainty put a lot of pressure on Seven both from an underlying revenue perspective as well as share price," he said in an interview on Seven Group's financial results.

Mr Stokes said it would take time to reposition the business but there was light at the end of the tunnel.

"I think those runs are starting to be shown on board now into July and it's going to take time to actually get that to work.

"They have got the support of the banks and we feel comfortable where the business is. Hopefully we’ll continue to see success with the content strategy and transformation and then other opportunities will emerge."

Asked if the Seven Group would inject capital if needed or the Stokes family would look to take Seven West private, Mr Stokes said they were extreme scenarios.

He said Seven West had the capital it required and that Seven Group Holding had plenty of capacity.

"The business has got a very good plan and that plan can take it through. It is not necessarily reflected in the share price. The market will want to see results and they’ll (SWM) need time to deliver on that."

The Kerry Stokes-controlled free-to-air broadcaster has been in discussions with French production house Banijay over the sale of its Seven Studios business. It also expects to sell TX Australia, which it half-owns with Nine, and is looking to offload its ventures portfolio.

In the second half of 2019-20, Seven sold Pacific Magazines to Bauer Media Australia for $40 million, sold its West Australian Newspaper headquarters in Perth to Primewest for $75 million and leased back the property, and sold and leased back its Maroochydore property for $7 million.

In the first half, it sold West Australian radio business Redwave to Southern Cross for $28 million.

During the Pandemic there has been speculation around