KUALA LUMPUR: Shares in Media Prima Bhd hit a two-month high in active trade today, after the media group narrowed its net loss to RM29.54 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 (1QFY20) from RM40.41 million a year ago, on cost-cutting measures.

At 11am, the stock was up 12.9% or two sen to 18 sen, with 74.13 million shares changing hands. This valued the media group at RM194.11 million, which was still down 35.71% year to date.

The stock, however, has pared its losses since its low of 12 sen on March 19, a day after the Movement Control Order was enforced. Its price-to-book ratio stood at 0.287 times.

Media Prima was also the second most active stock on Bursa Malaysia.

The group has garnered two "strong buy" and two "buy" calls from the 12 research firms that track the company. Seven of the research houses rate Media Prima with a "hold", while one firm has a "reduce" call on the counter.

Media Prima posted a fifth straight quarterly loss as it continued to record declining advertising expenditure.

In its quarterly earnings filing with Bursa, the group said its narrower 1QFY20 net loss was cushioned by cost management initiatives through its efficient restructuring exercise amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Quarterly revenue inched down 0.28% to RM238.44 million from RM239.1 million for 1QFY19, as it recorded lower revenue from television network (down 8%), publishing (down 7%), Out-of-Home (down 3%), and radio network (plunging 56%).

However, the overall impact was offset by the better revenues contributed from digital media (up 11%), content creation (up 13%), and its home shopping network (up 18%).

Group managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said the group’s next phase of transformation involves improving costs and operational efficiencies while delivering more effective solutions across their media platforms, and that its latest set of quarterly results shows that it is on its way to becoming a more resilient company.