Fairfax Media chief Greg Hywood says the company is lean, stable and ready for growth after swinging back into the black with a $224 million annual profit.
Revenue continued to slide, dropping three per cent to $1.97 billion, but the profit - boosted by $67 million in asset sales - was a turnaround from a $16.4 million loss a year ago.
"Today's result shows that Fairfax has been able to deal with the enormous structural changes impacting the media and has reshaped the business for future growth," Mr Hywood said.
"This is the year that Fairfax's overall performance has stabilised."
Fairfax had expanded from core media into "a broadly based services business" covering marketing, property and data services, he said.
"This provides the bases for future investment focus and the development of new revenue streams," Mr Hywood said.
Revenue in Fairfax's key metropolitan media division, which includes The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and The Age newspapers, fell nine per cent to $803 million.
Revenue early in the current financial year was down one to two per cent - a slowing in the decline - but Citi media analyst Justin Diddams said questions remained.
"Fairfax is really good at cutting costs and putting through cost increases," he said.
"We're yet to see any real organic revenue growth from new initiatives."
Mr Hywood indicated the cover price of printed newspapers may rise in the future, but Mr Diddams said cost cuts and price rises were "silver bullets" that could only be used once.
CMC Markets strategist Michael McCarthy also pointed to revenue as a concern.
"The structural issues that this group faces are still life-threatening," he said.
Advertising revenue from Fairfax's print business fell by nearly a quarter to $281 million in the 2013/14 year, outweighing a six per cent gain in digital advertising to $179 million.
But Mr Hywood said metro media's improved profitability was a highlight, with underlying earnings rising 41 per cent to $121 million.
Digital subscriptions for the three major mastheads raised $24 million, contributing to an underlying 11 per cent increase in circulation revenue.
Fairfax shares leapt 6.2 per cent, gaining 5.5 cents to a month-high of 93.5 cents, however market watchers said short position covering and a relief rally explained some the rise.
Fairfax's best performing business was real estate advertiser Domain, where revenue grew by 15.5 per cent.
The company also pocketed $220 million from the sale of online accommodation business Stayz in December.
Mr Hywood announced a restructure of Fairfax's Australian Community Media division, which includes more than 150 newspapers, aimed at saving $40 million a year.
The changes may see "limited consolidation of papers", he said.
It is expected some jobs will be cut.
Fairfax's radio revenue, from stations including Sydney's 2UE and Melbourne's 3AW, fell six per cent.
FAIRFAX OVERHAUL GETS IT BACK IN THE BLACK
* Full year net profit of $224.4m, up from $16.4m loss in 2012/13
* Revenue of $1.97b, down three pct from $2.03b
* Final dividend of two cents per share, up from one cent
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