TVNZ will still have to pay a dividend despite cost-cutting, says John Key.
Prime Minister John Key says TVNZ will still have to pay a dividend despite the state broadcaster having to cut costs by $25 million.
TVNZ last week said advertising revenues were 10 per cent below budget, which represented an annualised shortfall of income of $30m.
Job losses from
the 1040-strong workforce at TVNZ, most of which is based in Auckland, have not been ruled out.
In the year to June 30, 2008 the broadcaster paid the Crown a dividend of $10.3m after reporting an after-tax profit of $19.4m.
TVNZ will decide this year's dividend after the annual accounts are audited around August. The company has a policy of paying a dividend of 70 per cent of profit after tax.
Mr Key told Newstalk ZB there were no plans to waive the dividend.
He accepted there may be job losses.
"That may also be wholly appropriate if they need to get to a flatter sort of slimmer operating structure... We're in difficult times and every company, whether its government owned or private sector owned, has to consider how to best operate," he said.
"Their advertising revenue is substantially reduced - it's true frankly across most of these media outlets, the advertising revenue's down, businesses are cutting in that area and its having an impact on them."
- NZPA
