South Pacific’s largest commercial broadcaster, Communications Fiji Limited which is the parent company of Legend FM, FM96, Viti FM, Navtarang, Radio Sargam and fijivillage, has announced a final group after tax profit of $797,336 for the year ended December 31st 2021.
CFL Group Chairman, William Parkinson says the result is a strong one considering the challenges faced in both Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Parkinson says CFL Fiji recorded an improved in performance delivering an after-tax profit of $364,350.
He says this performance is significantly stronger than the previous year as the 2020 result was boosted by a substantial increase in the valuation of CFL’s 50% subsidiary 231 Waimanu Rd Limited.
PNG FM recorded an after-tax profit of $451,937.
The decline in profit resulted from the arrival of the third wave of COVID late in the year plus the declining value in the Kina.
Communications Fiji Limited has also announced a final dividend of 4 cents per share.
This takes dividends paid out for the year ended December 31st 2021 to 8 cents per share.
CFL shares will go ex-benefit on April 11th. The record date will be April 14th and the dividend will be paid out on April 26th.
Looking ahead, Parkinson says CFL comes out of this difficult time with a strong balance sheet and well equipped to tackle the future.
He also says PNG FM expects to commence construction of its new studio complex in late 2022 and CFL is enjoying good revenue growth from online media ventures like fijivillage.com.
Parkinson says Papua New Guinea and Fiji both face national elections in the coming year and this makes forecasting very difficult.
However he says CFL radio and online products are strong and so they are ready.
