Craig Hutchisons SEN sheds millions in debt, sells Kiwi radio stations back to NZ TAB
Craig Hutchison’s SEN has reportedly sold off the New Zealand radio stations it bought just two years ago in an effort to reduce debt.
The New Zealand TAB, which sold the stations to Sports Entertainment Group, has bought them back for $4 million, according to a report in the Herald Sun.
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There have been repeated stories in the media in recent months about Hutchison’s media empire, predominantly SEN’s $28 million debt and efforts to reduce it.
The company had snapped up a number of assets in recent years, including professional sports teams and radio stations in Australia and New Zealand.
According to Thursday’s report, Sports Entertainment Group chairman Craig Coleman noted the New Zealand radio station deal would help the company reduce its debt with the Commonwealth Bank, which is due in August next year.
“Importantly, this transaction removes start-up losses from our operating performance,” Coleman said in a note to the ASX.
“In FY23 our New Zealand business represented a negative o – underlying $2.4 million drag on EBITDA.”
TAB NZ shut down radio stations during the Covid pandemic, with SEN pouncing in 2021, “funded from existing cash reserves”.
They have since run at a loss, costing the company $2.4 million last financial year, the article states.
The deal to sell the New Zealand stations was announced on Thursday, hours before the Sports Entertainment Group annual general meeting in Melbourne.
According to the ASX, SENZ will sell advertisements on the stations and receive a commission.
The man known as “Hutchy” had largely stayed silent on the company’s position to date, but decided to address the situation in a chat with good mate and journalist Damian Barrett on podcast The Sounding Board on Tuesday this week.
Barrett branded the situation “a two-month, sustained, personal attack” on Hutchison.
“The facts haven’t changed. Let me run over them again,” Hutchison said.
“Our business made less than $5 million profit and ... our debt has become quite famous, it’s $28 million or about 12 weeks of turnover.
“That’s on the public record and we’ve been very public since June that we’re seeking to reduce that.”
When asked if it was a financially crippling situation, Hutchy quickly responded: “That’s quite laughable. It’s really laughable.
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“And the way it gets covered and portrayed is like I’m the bank and it’s my money and I’m overspending.
“The reality is I’m the second largest shareholder in the business. The largest shareholder is Viburnum, which is a strategic, financially rational company with a great track record and success story and is a more than $500 million fund.
“Would we like to get our debt down a bit? Yes, we’ve been public about that. A lot of the numbers you read, in fact all of the numbers I read (in an article published) on Sunday were inaccurate bar none.”
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