KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Media Prima Bhd narrowed its net loss in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 to RM24.16 million from RM30.71 million a year ago, despite a continued decline in revenue, as it reduced operating expenses, with loss from operations declining 28%.

Its stock exchange filing showed a 2% fall in revenue during the quarter to RM265.55 million from RM271.8 million a year ago, which was mitigated by a 5% retreat in operating expenses to RM288.35 million from RM302.74 million. Loss from operations went down to RM19.69 million from RM27.3 million.

Consequently, loss per share shrank to 2.18 sen from 2.77 sen.

Still, for the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30 (9MFY19), the group's net loss expanded to RM73.4 million, over three times the net loss of RM20.58 million it recorded a year ago (9MFY18), while revenue declined 10% to RM801.41 million from RM894.84 million.

In a statement, the group noted that 9MFY18 reported lower losses because of a one-off gain on the sale of shares in an associate that amounted to RM45.4 million "Excluding this one-off item in 9MFY18, the decline in the group's loss in 9MFY19 would be lower against the corresponding period," it said.

Media Prima said tougher conditions continued to impact the group's performance as a whole, while traditional advertising and circulation revenues for the cumulative period dropped by 15% and 21%, respectively, from a year ago. Overall cautious spending contributed to revenue decline across the group’s business segments, it said.

“The group’s overall performance continues to be challenged due to the decline in traditional advertising and circulation revenues. As we head into the final months of 2019, we will accelerate the next phase of our transformation to adapt our businesses to the fast-changing conditions in the media sector,” said Media Prima group chairman Datuk Syed Hussian Aljunid.

Meanwhile, the group's managing director Datuk Kamal Khalid said the group will continue to build on the positive growth achieved by its digital and commerce initiatives — the group's home shopping and digital revenue grew 9% year-on-year in 9MFY19 — while taking measures to improve its costs and operational efficiencies.

The group also noted that The New Straits Times Press’ online brand for Harian Metro recorded the highest unique visitors for online news in Malaysia for the third quarter of 2019. It said myMetro reached 13.6 million unique visitors from July to September 2019, while the average monthly unique visitors for BH Online and NST Online are 4.2 million and 2 million respectively.

Media Prima shares closed 1.5 sen or 5% lower at 27.5 sen, with 1.17 million shares traded. Its market capitalisation stands at RM305.03 million. The stock has fallen 33% from a year ago.