O’Reilly’s APN predicts profits to fall by 5%

APN News & Media — effectively the Australian arm of Independent News & Media (INM) — said yesterday that its profits for its current financial year could fall by as much as 5% due to the worsening global credit conditions.

Australian-based analysts are now suggesting APN’s full-year profits could amount to Aus$141 million (e71.6m) and not Aus$148m (e75.1m), which the company previously forecast.

APN, 40% owned by INM, had already said that net profit for its current year could be at the lower end of analyst expectations. The media group was formally asked this week by the Australian Securities Exchange whether or not it expected a change in profit outcome, following a significant fall in APN’s share price since the beginning of the year.