Moneyweb recovers strongly in 2nd half

Core audience up 48% to over 200 000.

REVIEWED CONDENSED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2009          
Highlights                                                                     
-    Profits recover in second half; dividend maintained at 1c per share       
-    London legal settlement leads to small headline loss for year             
-    Earnings per share down slightly to 1,67c for the full year               
-    Strong balance sheet; over R8m in net cash holdings                       
-    Core online audience exceeds 200 000, up 48% year on year                 
-    Moneyweb.com address acquired, to become African investment site          
-    Financial aggregator Moneywebmarket.co.za to be launched in July
FINANCIAL RESULTS COMMENTARY                                                              
As reported at the interim stage, financial results for the year ended March   
2009 were adversely affected by the settlement of a legal suit brought in London
against the company`s subsidiary Mineweb.com. The court action followed        
Mineweb`s publication of articles defaming a Russian businessman. The settlement
was confidential but defined as "substantial" in UK law. This together with    
legal costs resulted in a headline loss of R146 000 (-0.19c per share) for the 
12 months to end March 2009.                                                   
A net profit of R1,3m (1,67c per share) was achieved for the year, with the    
legal costs offset by the profit generated through the sale of the             
Moneyweb.co.uk web address for GBP120 000 before tax. Also supporting the bottom
line was the first positive contribution from the company`s joint ventures and a
significant increase in interest earned.                                       
Advertising revenues recovered strongly during the second half of the financial
year, helped by a long-term headline sponsorship of the company`s three        
nationally broadcast business radio programmes.  This reduced the fall in full 
year revenue to 12,6%. Income was supported by continued growth flowing from the
strategic relationship with Google, with Adsense receipts up over a third in US
Dollars.                                                                       
The company`s operating cash flow increased from R2,23m to R2,97m; and after   
investment in working capital, net operating cash flow improved  from R871k to 
R1,8m. The balance sheet remains strong with yearend cash holdings of R8m (2008:
R7,3m) and zero debt.                                                          
Operational progress                                                           
The global financial crisis sharply increased reader interest in the company`s 
content. A record 511 265 unique visitors accessed the company`s websites at the
height of the crisis in October 2008. The core audience (ie direct visitors to 
the home pages of the company`s websites) peaked at 207 688 that month.        
Although traffic to the sites eased as the worst of the panic passed, the      
company`s audiences grew steadily in the new calendar year. Google Analytics   
recorded a core audience of 204 760 unique visitors to the eight Moneyweb sites
in March 2009, a year-on-year growth of 52%. The email newsletter base rose 34%
year-on-year to over 75 000.                                                   
Management was engaged in two major projects for the majority of the financial 
year, both of which are approaching finality and will be launched in July 2009.
The financial aggregator, Moneywebmarket.co.za, will offer rapid, online       
comparisons for consumers on car and home insurance from 10 financial          
institutions. The second project is a thoroughgoing redesign of the back and   
front ends to incorporate global best practice in online publishing.           
Moneyweb.co.za will be the first site to switch over.                          
In May 2008, the company`s flagship radio programme switched to SA`s news and  
information leading national radio station SAFM. During the year the company   
also secured a partnership with Lotus FM to produce a daily business programme.
Together with its RSG show, Moneyweb business programming now reaches 772 000  
radio listeners daily - over 80% of SA`s total business radio audience.        
Outlook                                                                        
The recovery in operating profit during the second half of the financial year  
has continued and with long-term advertising contracts secured, is expected to 
be sustainable in the medium-term.                                             
The strategic objective of generating transaction revenue is expected to start 
bearing fruit in the new financial year through the soon-to-be-launched        
financial aggregator and the recently launched white-labelled horseracing Tote.
The company is also growing offshore revenues. Mineweb Canada, a joint venture 
with Vancouver-based Infomine.com, is being deepened through various           
initiatives. The partnership made an immediate contribution to profits in the  
financial year under review.                                                   
Subsequent to the year-end, the company took advantage of the crash in the sub-
prime market to acquire the prized Moneyweb.com URL along with its previously  
owned Moneyweb.co.uk address. The GBP60 000 price paid for both URLs is half of
what Moneyweb received a year ago for the UK address alone.                    
Moneyweb.com will be launched in the third quarter of 2009 out of the US as a  
global website providing content on African investments. No decision has yet   
been made on how to best utilise the UK address.                               
Dividend - policy and declaration                                              
The company`s dividend policy is to pay out half the annual earnings per share 
as a dividend to shareholders. In the light of the strong balance sheet and the
expected sustainable nature of the current profit trend, the board is deviating
from the policy and has declared an unchanged dividend of 1c per share, as     
follows:                                                                       
Notice is hereby given that a cash dividend of 1,0 cent per share has been     
declared and is payable to shareholders recorded in the books of Moneyweb at the
close of business on Friday, 31 July 2009.  Shareholders are advised that the  
last day to trade "cum" the dividend will be Friday, 24 July 2009. The shares  
will trade "ex" dividend as from Monday, 27 July 2009.                         
Payment will be made on Monday, 3 August 2009. Share certificates may not be   
dematerialised or rematerialised during the period Monday, 27 July 2009 to     
Friday, 31 July 2009, both days inclusive.                                     
BASIS OF PREPARATION OF THE REVIEWED RESULTS                                   
Statement of compliance                                                        
The reviewed condensed financial statements comprise a consolidated balance    
sheet at 31 March 2009, a consolidated income statement, consolidated statement
of changes in equity and consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31
March 2009.  The reviewed condensed financial statements have been prepared in 
accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International      
Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and the presentation and disclosure     
requirements of IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting, the JSE Listings          
Requirements and the South African Companies Act.                              
The accounting policies are consistent with those applied in the preparation of
the previous year`s annual financial statements with the exception that profit 
after tax from joint ventures has been reclassified from revenues.             
Basis of measurement                                                           
The condensed financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost   
basis except for certain financial instruments measured at fair value.         
REVIEWED RESULTS                                                               
The auditors, BDO Spencer Steward (Jhb) Inc. have reviewed these results and   
their unmodified review opinion is available for inspection at the company`s   
registered office.                                                             
STATEMENT ON GOING CONCERN                                                     
The condensed financial statements have been prepared on the going-concern basis
since the directors have every reason to believe that the company has adequate 
resources in place to continue in operation for the foreseeable future.        
POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS                                                      
The directors are not aware of any material matter or circumstance arising since
the end of the financial year.

For the full results click here /mw/view/mw/en/page124

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