Tough times ahead for APN

Following the devastating Queensland floods and Christchurch earthquake APN has reported an increase in both circulation and readership of its publications, but challenging times lie ahead.

At its annual general meeting, this week the company reported a 2.8% increase in revenue to $1,059m with earnings up 8.7% to $205.4m. However, it also noted that this year’s natural disasters have had an early impact and described as the NZ economy as “challenged”.

“Despite some improvement in Queensland, earnings are still being impacted by the repercussions of the earthquake on an already weak New Zealand economy coupled with an extremely strong Australian Dollar,” said the chairman in a statement.

Though the printing of its publications didn’t miss a beat after both disasters, the company has had to adapt. Following the Christchurch earthquake The Christchurch Star has been reinvented to a bi-weekly tabloid, combining local content and re-purposed content from NZ Herald and other APN media. Digital uptake for nzherald.co.nz is up with 32.1m page impressions and +500% uplift in both Twitter and Facebook traffic.

Website traffic in Queensland spiked with strong circulation despite the devastating impact the floods had on APN staff and the communities it serves. With APN’s recovering ARM (Australian Regional Media) focusing on costs.