KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s net profit shrank to RM5.8 million for its third quarter ended Oct 31, 2022 (3QFY2023), compared to RM105.9 million a year ago. 

The media group’s earnings were dragged down by sharply higher net financing cost of RM141.7 million, as a result of foreign exchange loss of RM128.2 million against a forex gain of RM25.3 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

Its revenue also dipped to RM926.18 million from RM1.02 billion due to lower subscription revenue and merchandise sales, which was partially offset by an increase in advertising revenue, according to the filing to Bursa Malaysia.

Its earnings per share fell to 0.11 sen, from 2.03 sen in last year’s third quarter.

Nevertheless, the group announced its third interim dividend single-tier dividend of 0.75 sen per ordinary share for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2023, to be paid on Jan 13.

Year-to-date (9MFY2023), net profit plunged to RM204.28 million from RM334.29 million from the preceding year’s corresponding period, partly due to higher financing cost, offset by lower tax expenses, depreciation of right-of-use assets and depreciation of property, plant and equipment.

Due to a decrease in merchandise sales and subscription revenue, the group also reported lower revenue of RM2.8 billion in its year-to-date, from RM3.14 billion (9MFY2022).

Commenting on its performance, group chief executive office of Astro, Henry Tan, said the group remained cash generative and proactive in its capital management.

“We recorded normalised Patami of RM73 million in 3QFY2023; Patami was impacted by higher unrealised forex loss due to transponder finance lease liabilities as the US dollar appreciated,” said Tan in a statement.

“Going forward, we are continuously investing in our transformation for long-term and sustainable growth, focusing on content, broadband, streaming, customer experience, data, addressable advertising and technology to better serve customers,” he added.

“We expect to continue aggregating the best streaming apps and adding on lifestyle apps which are relevant for Malaysians in the near future.”

Tan also said that Astro’s addressable advertising gained traction in the market to enhance a unified audience measurement on linear, on demand and OTT platforms.

“We expect addressable advertising to have increased industry adoption over time and to continue growing into the future.”

Meanwhile, in a separate bourse filing on Thursday (Dec 15), Astro said it has appointed Mathew James Turner as non-independent and non-executive alternate director. Turner is currently the chief financial officer of Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd (UTSB) and director of UTSB subsidiary, TGV Cinemas Sdn Bhd and Media Innovations Holdings Pty Ltd in Australia.

At market close, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd fell 0.5 sen or 0.70% to 71 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM3.7 billion.