Utusan posts RM4.7m net loss

by **Cals** Thu 28 Nov 2013, 10:18

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Levina Lim of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 28 November 2013 10:19

KUALA LUMPUR: Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd reported a net loss of RM4.67 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, against a profit of RM878,000 in the previous corresponding period.

Revenue decreased 10.6% to RM80.5 million from RM90 million.

The decrease was attributed to lower revenue from its publication, distribution and advertisement segments, reflecting the headwinds facing the print business.

The poorer third quarter results raised a net loss for the nine-month period to RM11.56 million from RM6.31 million previously.

Loss per share increased from 5.7 sen to 10.44 sen.

Utusan said revenue for the publication, distribution and advertisement segments in the first nine months decreased by 10.2%.

The above was mainly due to a reduction in net circulation revenue in newspapers and advertisement revenue compared with the same quarter last year.

“Hence this segment registered a loss before tax of RM8 million compared with profit before tax of RM189,000 last year.”

Print margin for the segment fell to 8% from 5% the previous year. It was much lower compared with Star Publications (M) Bhd (24.95%) and Media Chinese International Ltd (23.5%).

Utusan’s information technology and multimedia segment saw an 83% decrease in revenue for the nine months.

This was attributed to a restructuring of subsidiaries’ business activities.

Revenue for its investment holding and management services segments, however, was higher by RM1.5 million to RM7.7 million. Profit grew to RM3.2 million from RM1.5 million previously.

“The year 2013 will continue to pose challenges to the group in view of increasing competition for the market share of newspapers’ circulation and advertising expenditure.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 28, 2013.