Nine Entertainment, which owns 9 Network and major mastheads such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review, said that its streaming, broadcast, and digital publishing divisions were expected to contribute more than 60 per cent of its revenue in the new financial year.
The group made a 2025/26 bottom line net profit of $510.6 million, on a consolidated basis, up from $133.3 million in the previous year ended June 30.Â
The result was boosted by proceeds from the $3 billion sale of its 60 per cent controlling stake in real estate platform Domain finalised in late 2025.
Underlying earnings - before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - jumped 17 per cent to $378.8 million, on a three per cent lift in group revenue to $2.2 billion.
After blaming the "extreme state of disruption" from AI for job cuts in July that saw 35 employees, including longtime cartoonist Cathy Wilcox, lose their jobs, Nine said it's looking to work with AI companies and further incorporate the technology into its operations.
Detailing these initiatives, which include an agreement with Microsoft to give its Copilot chatbot access to Nine's content and licensing deals with Australian corporations developing their own in-house large language models, chief executive Matt Stanton said they will serve as a new revenue stream that acknowledges the value of Nine's journalism in an "AI-driven world."
He also acknowledged that AI usage within the business had expanded internally and is now being used in promotional material, creative content, semantic search, and credit collection.
Mr Stanton said the group was still eyeing cost cuts and expected to exceed its target to take out $160 million heading toward June 2027.
Acknowledging the loss of some 35 jobs at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, Mr Stanton said Nine was "investing in further growth opportunities as the business model continues to evolve".
"We will continue to invest in premium content and focus on opportunities to maximise the reach and commercialisation of that content, whilst continuing to explore technology initiatives that help to expedite growth opportunities," he told an earnings call on Wednesday.
In 2025/26, underlying earnings for the publishing arm fell 3.9 per cent to $149.9 million, but the streaming and broadcast arm generated a 1.8 per cent increase to $214.1 million.
Nine's total television earnings came to $133.5 million, a fall of 18.5 per cent, while Stan made $80.6 million, reflecting a big gain of 20.3 per cent.
Share in Nine, which declared a final dividend of three cents, taking the total for the year to 7.5 cents, had jumped by almost nine per cent to $1.06 by noon.
The chief executive also praised the federal government's news bargaining incentive, which will deliver long-term, sustainable investment in journalism.
"It's rightly a testament to the critical, democratic and cultural value of our journalism and the news brands that Nine nurtures and invests in," Mr Stanton said.
He added that Nine would continue pushing for AI companies to negotiate agreements for the right to use Nine's intellectual property in their AI models.
"We agree with the prime minister's strong words: if you invest in creating journalism and artistic work, you must retain the right to determine how it's used and what it's worth. Anything less is theft," he said.
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