Nation Media Group has maintained a total dividend payout at Ksh10 ($0.1) per share despite full-year net earnings dropping by a fifth, highlighting the firm’s bullish outlook for this year.

The Nairobi bourse-listed media house reported Ksh1.68 billion ($16.8 million) in after-tax profit for the fiscal period to December 2016, compared with Ksh2.22 billion ($22.2 million) a year earlier — an outcome it attributed to one-off costs related to restructuring and absence of a tax credit enjoyed in 2015.

NMG, the largest media company in East Africa, posted Ksh11.3 billion ($113 million) in turnover, from Ksh12.3 billion ($123 million) in 2015, helped by increased sales from the digital and television divisions.

“The underlying business is fairly strong. We have reduced our cost base. Those costs won’t be recurring this year,” said Joe Muganda, the NMG chief executive, at an investor briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday. “We are acquiring and creating new revenue streams. We continue recouping the benefits of the new printing press.”

Mr Muganda said that the company had weathered a tough operating environment, with challenges such as reduced advertising spend from key clients and delayed payment especially by State agencies.

The total dividend payout due to shareholders amounts to Ksh1.88 billion ($18.8 million) reflecting a dividend yield of 10.53 per cent, based on Wednesday’s closing price of Ksh95 ($0.95) per share; the third-best return at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

NMG closed the year with a cash war chest amounting to Ksh3.4 billion ($34 million), up from Ksh3 billion ($30 million) in 2015.

The group incurred one-off costs totalling Ksh342.9 million ($3.43 million) related to the radio business, QTV, staff retrenchment, and setting up Spark TV station in Uganda.

The company’s 2015 results benefited from a Ksh274 million ($2.74 million) tax credit related to the capital investment in setting up the $20 million state-of-the-art printing press launched in mid-March last year.

Cost of sales dipped by a fifth to Ksh2 billion ($20 million) from Ksh2.4 billion ($24 million) in 2015, attributed to the efficiency of the new printing press, reworking route to market, and proper management of newspaper returns.

Mr Muganda said revenue from the digital business doubled to account for 3 per cent of total revenue, and plans are underway to grow this to 10 per cent in the short term.

The company continues to leverage on its growing digital footprint, the largest in East Africa, currently with 26.1 million monthly unique visits to grow and create new revenue streams.

NTV’s operating profit grew by over 100 per cent in the period under review, which Mr Muganda said was buoyed by strong programming and content popular with audiences.

The Daily Monitor in Uganda also more than doubled profitability, aided by lower costs and growing market share. Business Daily, which rebranded early this month, registered a one per cent growth in revenue and a further two per cent increase in operating profit.

Nation Media Group also publishes the Daily Nation, Taifa and The EastAfrican.

Mr Muganda said a paywall will soon be rolled out to access www.businessdaily.com which will see readers pay a fee to access high-quality business stories and data.

NMG early this year acquired a 51 per cent stake in the lifestyle magazine KenyaBuzz.

Mr Muganda said this is part of its new strategy and the company will ride on this platform to roll out new products such as events ticketing, and rake in earnings from advertising.