Chief executive Hugh Marks has resigned after five years at the helm of Nine Entertainment Co.
Mr Marks emailed staff to inform them of his decision on Saturday afternoon, with the news reported shortly after by the Sydney Morning Herald, Nine News and other of the company’s outlets.
“After five successful years for Nine, I have decided the time is right for me begin the process of moving on,” he told them.
“I want to take this opportunity to tell you what a privilege it has been leading this business over a truly transformational period for both the media market generally, and particularly our business,” Mr Marks added.
“We have gone from being three separate, legacy media businesses in Nine, Fairfax Media and Macquarie Media, each with their own structural challenges, and created a business that now has a diversified revenue base across both advertising and subscription, and that has a clear growth strategy for decades to come.”
Mr Marks said he would formally announce his departure to the market on Monday and the process of replacing him would follow shortly after.
His exit follows one of Nine’s best performed weeks on the ASX since it merged with Fairfax Media in 2018.
It told its AGM on Thursday that with a significantly improved advertising market, it expected 15 per cent revenue growth from metropolitan areas in its second quarter.
The company said its share of the ad market had been helped during this period by major events including the NRL finals and State of Origin.
