INL aims for internet site to make a profit by 2005

By NZPA

Monday 30th September 2002

New Zealand publisher Independent Newspapers Ltd aims for its Internet arm, Stuff, to become profitable by 2005, according to its annual report.

The upgraded site attracts 300,000 users each month, and is "aggressively targeting new revenue streams", INL Interactive general manager Fiona Reid said in the report.

INL expected classified advertising to deliver an increasing percentage of online income, with ads rising to 6330 in June 2002, from 2657 in June 2001.

Stuff was also selling combined online and newspaper advertising packages.

As well as the large banner advertising on the site, Stuff aimed to garner revenue through subscription services offering companies options for reproducing material published on Stuff, and by INL.

INL, which posted an annual net profit of $37.8 million, said in the report that Stuff halved its net losses to $1.6 million.

Meanwhile, INL has gone to the market for the first phase of its massive, multi-million dollar nationwide IT project expected to take three to five years.

The cost was estimated last October by then chief information officer (CIO) Don Higgins at $20 million, INL publication New Zealand Infotech reported today.

New INL CIO Pam Nobbs, four months into the job, has revised the project and declined to project costs. She is submitting a draft strategy to the INL board at the end of next month for approval.

The object of the IT project is to reduce costs and increase efficiencies for staff, readers and advertisers. Innovative services will be possible on the back of the new systems, and INL should be poised to take advantage of new technologies and diverse means of content delivery.

In the past, divisions have purchased and operated IT systems independently.

A request for proposal has been sent to 12 software providers, offshore and local, for advertising, editorial and circulation systems, as well as customer relationship management and financial systems.

Wellington Newspapers will pilot the new system.

As part of the IT overhaul, 17 division IT teams are being reduced to five regional groups headquartered in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch, plus Suburban Newspapers in Auckland.

Editorial content-sharing, being pioneered by The Dominion Post business section and The Press, could be accelerated by smarter technology.

Accessible information about all INL customers, both readers and advertisers, would allow more proactive selling and bundling of offers, and enable INL to offer a group or regional approach.

The media conglomerate employs about 3000 people and has 17 divisions publishing most of the nation's newspapers.

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