Nearly $8 billion has been wiped from the market value of Australia’s largest media companies since the beginning of the year as rising interest rates and fears of a recession spook investors.
“While listed media companies are optimistic that they will be able to weather the cycle better than prior cycles given structural tailwinds in their businesses , we will wait for evidence before sharing the same optimism,” a note from Macquarie said. “From a macro perspective, we share our equity strategists’ view that monetary policy is a leading indicator for economic growth or the cycle more broadly.
Shares in major television, publishing and radio and billboard advertising companies have fallen between 19 per cent and 44 per cent since January, compared to a fall of 4.6 per cent for the benchmark ASX 200. Nine Entertainment Co - which owns television, radio, publishing and streaming assets - has shed $1.4 billion in value this year.