Kerry Stokes’ media business Seven West barely earned enough last year to buy a decent harbourside mansion in Sydney or one of Melbourne’s better addresses, but that’s not why the billionaire’s wealth dropped around a billion dollars on Tuesday morning.

It has been a long time since Seven West had any material sway on the family fortunes despite owning the best known brand in the Stokes empire: Seven Network.

The recent Boral acquisition has been a stellar performer for SGH CEO Ryan Stokes. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Seven West’s paltry full-year net profit of $16.6 million is a rounding error on the earnings of its parent group – the $21 billion industrial conglomerate Seven Group Holdings (SGH) – which reported a 9 per cent jump in its profit (before significant items) of $924 million.

It’s not a bad result given SGH’s overall revenue was essentially flat due to some parts of the business, such as its equipment rental company Coates, having a tough time in states such as Victoria and South Australia.

The near 10 per cent plunge in SGH’s share price on the back of the results merely reflected the market shock........

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