John Fairfax Holdings Limited

1
John Fairfax Holdings Limited

• Institutional Roadshow Presentation
• May 2000

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An introduction to Fairfax
Top 50 listed company Market Capitalisation
of A3.4 billion
Fairfax Group
f2 Fairfax Interactive Network
General Publications Sydney Morning Herald The
Age Sun Herald Regional Newspapers Community
Newspapers Magazines
BusinessPublications Australian Financial
Review BRW Shares Personal Investor Strategic
Publishing Group
Operations
Directories Classified supersites FinancialServ
ices Auctions/Shopping Broadband
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Recent major events

• Senior management team stabilised
• Cost reduction exercise - Project Hercules
  completed
• Concentrating upon EBIT margin enhancement
• New revenue streams in publishing
• Continuing to upgrade infrastructure
• Building and growing the f2 business

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Revenue - Like for Like Basis (Amillion)
5
EBIT - Like for Like Basis (Amillion)
6
Eps Pre Abnormal Items (cents per share)
Half Yr
18
Yr End
17.3
16
14
13.9
12
12.1
10
8.9
8
7.7
6
4
2
0
1997/98
1998/99
1999/2000
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f1 - Publishing

• Launch of new sections in conjunction with f2
• Circulation consistent with overall industry
  trends readership steady
• Above average advertising revenue growth
• Significant profit growth with an EBITDA margin
  gt34
• Business Publications expanded with acquisition
  of Strategic Publishing Group, investment in
  NewsAlert and CNBC deals
• Regional and Community newspapers trading
  strongly
• Investment in new Melbourne plant and upgrade of
  Sydney plant

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f1 - Publishing

• Group EBIT growth of 40 in 2 years

• Group eps growth of 60 in 2 years

Superior economic performance

• 34EBITDA margin
• Marginal profitability ratio of 60

Cost Control
Sound strategic position
Above industry
revenue growth
Growth options

• Sections
• Magazines
• Revamps

• Latest results gt12

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Creating a network of interactive aggregators
with each being the category leader
f2 - Online
Directories
Portal
TBD
Financial Services
Auctions/Shopping
Classified Supersites
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f2 - Online
Much has been achieved since July 99 and f2 is
in a strong position
f2s competitive position

• Leading (top 3) traffic position
• Leading (1) revenue position and revenue growth
• Leading (1) revenue per unique user
• Significant new partnerships (auctions.com and
  amazon.com)
• Leading industry player usually at the table
  in narrowband, broadband, datacasting, deals and
  policy debates
• Unique position for a media company with a
  newspaper heritage

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Overall direction
Reposition Fairfax to take full advantage of
growth opportunities in media and related areas

• Strengthening our publishing businesses
• Building new platforms for growth

Developing an increasingly diversified media
company
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Overall Direction
We can grow by broadening and improving our two
core skills
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Growth opportunities are significant
New geographies
New markets
Fairfax Today
New demographics
Newspapers/ magazines
Interactive
Distribution
New content
New ways of doing business
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Summary

• Fairfax is in a strong strategic position
• Recent improvements substantial
• Publishing (f1) continues to offer avenues for
  both revenue and profit growth
• Development of online (f2) in four key areas
• Directories
• Financial Services
• Auctions/Shopping
• Classified Supersites
• New distribution avenues are available and being
  assessed