Seven Group Fiscal Year Net Profit Falls, But Revenue Up Strongly

Australian investment concern Seven Group Holdings Ltd. (SVW.AU), which owns a dealer for Caterpillar construction and mining equipment as well as stake in media company Seven West Media Group (SWM.AU), said Thursday net profit slumped due to a number of one-off events but revenue jumped sharply.

Seven Group was incorporated in February 2010 and had no operating activity until late April that year, when it acquired Caterpillar dealer WesTrac Holdings Pty Ltd. The company in May 2010 bought Seven Network Ltd., which resulted in an accounting gain of A$726.3 million. It now has a 30% stake in Seven West Media, created earlier this year when West Australian Newspapers acquired Seven Media Group, the owner of Australia's top rating television station Seven Network.

Net profit fell to A$70.4 million in the financial year to June 30 from A$718 million the prior year, while revenue increased to A$1.97 billion from A$336.9 million.

Seven Group declared a final dividend of 18 cents a share.

-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]