KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): Media Prima Berhad announced today a final tier dividend of 5 sen per share, bringing total payout for the financial year ending Dec 31 2015 (FY15) to 10 sen, compared with 11 sen in FY14.

The payout accounts for 80% of profit after tax and minority interests, compared with 161.4% in FY14; while dividend yield is at a five-year high of 7.9% per annum against 6.3% previously, the group said in a statement today.

The high dividend reaffirmed the management’s commitment to rewarding shareholders and indicated Media Prima’s resilient financial performance, said chairman Datuk Seri FD Iskandar in the statement issued after the group’s annual general meeting.

For FY15, Media Prima recorded a revenue in excess of RM1.4 billion (FY14: 1.5 billion) and a net profit of RM138.7 million (FY14: RM75.52 million).

The group attributed the significantly higher profit to the costs from the one-off mutual separation scheme the group undertook previously.

Group Chief Financial Officer Mohamad Ariff Ibrahim said Media Prima is preparing for a challenging year in 2016, due among others to increasing fragmentation among media players.

The group will thus seek to grow its non-traditional revenue, while consolidating its market share in core advertising revenue, he said.