20 Aug 2015

NZ Herald to start digital registration of readers

2:39 pm on 20 August 2015

APN plans to begin registration of visitors to its New Zealand Herald website before the end of the year, as the company's profits fall.

The New Zealand Herald

The New Zealand Herald Photo: RNZ

The Australian-based APN News and Media - parent company of NZME which owns the Herald - has indicated it wants to charge customers for online content.

The company made a smaller profit of $A7.5 million in the six months to the end of June, compared with the previous year, which reflects $17.7 million of one-time costs from discontinued operations, finance expenses and redundancies.

Revenue rose by 5 percent to $427.6 million.

The company expects to see more revenue from a New Zealand initiative, which will see its NZME business collaborating with Fairfax Media on newspaper distribution in the North Island.

APN said its Adshel business will officially launch a sales automation product for advertisers across its Sydney Trains network digital screens, which will also be rolled out across 1000 New Zealand sites, from next year.