Nation Media Group's Revenue Falls to 21-Year Low as Print Decline Worsens Losses

Nation Media Group PLC’s long-running shift away from print has yet to restore growth, with the revenue for the first half of 2026 revenue dropping to a 21-year low of KSh 2.85 billion and the group posting its second-largest first-half net loss since 2005 at KSh 357.2 million. 

• Revenue fell 4.8% from KSh 2.99 billion in the six months to June 2025, while the loss after tax widened from KSh 41.7 million.
• The company attributed the revenue decline primarily to continued weakness in print.
• Higher provisions for uncollected debts, particularly delayed payments from government entities, and increased fuel costs weighed on operating performance, while lower market interest rates reduced interest income.

Broadcasting revenue rose 3.0% and digital subscription revenue 4.0%, but those gains were not enough to offset print weakness and higher operating pressures.

The loss before tax deteriorated to KSh 440.8 million from KSh 48.7 million, reversing much of the improvement recorded a year earlier.

The performance extends a contraction that has reshaped the economics of the Nairobi-based media group. NMG’s first-half revenue peaked at KSh 6.45 billion in 2014 and has since fallen 55.8%. Turnover has declined in each of the past four comparable periods, from KSh 3.70 billion in H1 2022 to KSh 3.53 billion in 2023, KSh 3.18 billion in 2024, KSh 2.99 billion in 2025 and KSh 2.85 billion this year.

Profitability has deteriorated faster with NMG generating H1 profit after tax of KSh 1.15 billion at its 2014 peak and remaining profitable through 2019 before recording a KSh 375.2 million loss during the pandemic-hit H1 2020. Profit recovered to KSh 285.2 million in 2021 and KSh 247.8 million in 2022, before shrinking to KSh 2.9 million in 2023.

The 2026 result marks a third consecutive first-half loss after losses of KSh 260.2 million in 2024 and KSh 41.7 million in 2025. At about 12.5% of revenue, the latest net loss margin is the weakest in the last 21 years.