Astro 1Q profit falls 6.7% on 'higher depreciation'

by **Cals** Thu 13 Jun 2013, 00:14

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Shalini Kumar of theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 12 June 2013 18:19

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 12): Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd recorded a net profit of RM114.1 million for its first quarter ended April 30 (1QFY14), a 6.7% decrease from the RM122.3 million posted in the previous corresponding quarter.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the group said this was mainly due to "higher depreciation of RM57.8 million compared with the corresponding quarter, which was offset by increase in group EBITDA of RM39.2 million."

However, the group saw an increase in its revenue to RM1.1 billion, 14.2% higher than the RM986 million recorded in 1QFY13.

This was due to the increase in subscription revenue and advertising revenue of RM102.4 million and RM19.5 million respectively.

The increase in subscription revenue is attributed to both an increase in average revenue per unit for pay-TV residential subscribers of RM3.90, and an increase in number of pay-TV residential subscribers to 3.3 million.

Astro also declared a first interim dividend of 2 sen per share.

“The company is committed to delivering total returns to shareholders...The strong cash flows generated from operations have enabled the board of directors to increase the level of interim dividends to 2 sen per share, 33% higher than the 1.5 sen per share interim dividend paid in the last 2 quarters," said Astro chairman Tun Zaki Azmi in a statement today.

Looking forward, Astro said it would continue to execute strongly on its strategic imperatives of achieving growth in customers, ARPU and advertising expenditure.

"The Astro B.yond conversion and targeted customer acquisitions will impact our profit margins in the current year, but are expected to normalise thereafter," said the group in its filing.

"Nevertheless, the group continues to have high visibility on its operating expenses, including content costs, with the significant majority of our key content contracts secured," it added.