White Pages print future unclear following sale

Telstra is selling 70 per cent of its Sensis directories business to US private equity firm Platinum Equity at a bargain basement price of $454m, throwing their printed future into further uncertainty.

Carrier license conditions with the Australian government mean the printed White Pages is safe, for now – however, communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has put the print deal under review.

Turnbull said on ABC Radio, “In the internet age producing these massive telephone books is really at odds with the way in which most people nowadays access telephone numbers, so we’re looking at that carefully together with a lot of other regulations.”

Australia’s biggest printer, PMP, currently holds the Sensis print contract, which extends to 2016 and is expected to carry over to the new owner. The future for the printed phonebooks, which were once the biggest job in the country, has been uncertain for some time, given that few people now use them. Since 2011 phone books for residential lines have been available on an opt-in basis in Sydney and Melbourne, with a woeful – but not surprising in this Google age – 26,000 copies a year requested in Melbourne, 20,000 in Sydney, a spokesman confirmed.

A year ago Sensis managing director John Allan said, “Until now we have been operating with an outdated print-based model – this is no longer sustainable for us.

“As we have made clear in the past, we will continue to produce Yellow and White Pages books to meet the needs of customers and advertisers who rely on the printed directories, but our future is online and mobile where the vast majority of search and directory business takes place.”

Australians can also opt-out from receiving the Business and Government White Pages, and the Yellow Pages are not covered by the license conditions.

Sensis’ print revenue for 2013 suffered a drop of 19.9 per cent to $778m. Revenue for the White Pages declined by 11.4 per cent, the Yellow Pages by 25.6 per cent. However, the books still make more money than the company’s digital offerings, which despite rising by 11.3 per cent last year is only bringing in $415m.

Overall revenue for Sensis in 2013 declined by 11.7 per cent to $1,336m; blaming digital disruption, it says, “traditional print customers continue to migrate to digital offerings.”

Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan has come to print’s defence, saying Sensis should continue to distribute printed White Pages in line with its community services obligations and out of consideration for older people who are not confident with the internet.

Platinum Equity will now operate the company as a standalone entity, with Telstra retaining a 30 per cent shareholding. Sensis is now valued at $649m – far below the billion-dollar pricetag previously estimated by analysts.

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