KUALA LUMPUR (June 15): Shares of Pay TV service provider Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd dipped 1.11% in thin trade this morning after its net profit for the first quarter ended April 30, 2017 (1QFY18) slipped 3.14% to RM195.8 million from RM202.2 million last year on reduced earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), and rise in net finance costs.

At 9.03am, Astro fell 3 sen to RM2.67 with 63,500 shares traded.

The group declared its first interim three sen dividend per share for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2018 (FY18) that would be paid on July 14. The ex-date is June 30 and entitlement date is July 4.

Revenue for the quarter dropped 2.7% to RM1.33 billion in the financial quarter under review compared to RM1.36 billion because of lower licensing, subscription and advertising revenue.

Meanwhile, CIMB IB Research maintained its “Add’ rating on Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd at RM2.70 with an unchanged target price of RM3.25 and said it expects stronger earnings growth from 2QFY18 onwards for Astro due to higher ARPU, recovery in adex and lower content cost due to reduction in sporting events.

In a note June 14, the research house said Astro’s 1QFY1/18 core net profit in line at 27%/26% of house/Bloomberg consensus FY18F.

It said Astro’s 1QFY18 core EPS rose 30% q-o-q due to lower content cost, depreciation and interest expense.

CIMB Research an interim dividend per share of 3 sen declared, in line with expectations.

“Astro is targeting to digitalise 75% of its internal processes and infrastructure in FY18 by tapping new technology to enable cost optimisation and better service delivery.

“Maintain Add and target price. Astro remains our top pick in Malaysian media sector,” it said.