The share price of Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ) has seen heavy losses since June when it was hovering at around $1.20 before closing on Thursday at $0.94c.
But the media company with a market value of $2.16 billion, which has seen its share price drop from $0.95c since this time last year, has fared better than others in the sector.
The News Corp (ASX: NWS) share price has dropped by more than 10% over the past year to close on Thursday at $17.36, while the Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM) share price has shed $0.10c over that period to close at $0.64c on Thursday.
Fairfax Media has this year enjoyed better times than it has over the past few years.
The media company, which owns The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers, reported an annual net profit of $83.9 million for FY17, far more positive than the loss of $772.6 million it reported the year before.
But the first quarter of FY18 has already seen Fairfax Media's overall revenue drop by about 5% on the previous year, when weighed against the same 12-week stretch.
Although the figures may not look good on paper from one perspective, perhaps they will add weight to the case for Fairfax Media's merger of its Stuff brand when it is due to present its case before the Wellington High Court later this month.
Fairfax Media is hoping to merge its New Zealand business, Stuff, with NZME, a deal that would bring two of New Zealand's biggest media companies together.
The deal hit a stumbling block after the Competition Commission determined that the prospective merger would harm media plurality.
But the New Zealand publishers say they will push for the deal to go ahead when the appeal kicks off on October 16, arguing that such mergers are necessary to survive encroaching global competition, a proposition Fairfax Media's recent revenue losses would likely support.
And, as Fairfax Media plans to launch its Domain Group as a separate entity in November, it seems Fairfax Media is one to watch.
Analysts have set a 12-month price target for Fairfax Media shares at around $1.08, with the more optimistic tipping it to push towards $1.50.
