NZME director Jim Grenon spends $6m buying more shares in company

Jim Grenon speaking at the NZME annual shareholders' meeting in May. Photo / Dean Purcell

NZME director Jim Grenon has spent more than $6 million to purchase another 5.5 million of shares in the media company, lifting his stake to almost 16%.

Grenon, a Canadian-born businessman who lives in Auckland and led a shakeup of NZME’s board in May, now holds 29.995m worth of shares in the firm, according to a disclosure notice published to the NZX this afternoon.

He previously held 24.430m shares and the latest purchase lifts his total stake from 13.002% to 15.963%.

Grenon paid $6.1m for his latest parcel of shares, the NZX notice said. The trade happened yesterday.

NZME on Tuesday reported operating earnings of $23.9m and an after-tax loss of $393,000 for the first half of its financial year.

Jim Grenon at the NZME shareholders' meeting in May. Photo / Dean Purcell

The media company - which owns the New Zealand Herald, Newstalk ZB, property site OneRoof and a host of other radio stations and North Island newspapers - posted operating revenue of $165.7m for the six months to June 30, down 3% from the same period in 2024. Revenue was partly impacted by the closure of community newspapers in December.

NZME’s net loss - after 5.2m of non-recurring costs - compared with a profit of $1.9m reported in the previous corresponding period, while operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was up almost 12% on $21.4m at the same time in 2024.

Reader revenue was 3% lower at $39.2m, with print subscriber revenue and retail outlet sales down 6% compared to the previous corresponding period. Advertising revenue was down 3% at $116.3m with core digital revenue was 2% lower.

The company said a strategic review of OneRoof had highlighted a significant value creation opportunity and the new NZME board was focused in the short-term on growing OneRoof organically, while keeping strategic opportunities under constant review.