KUALA LUMPUR (May 30): Media Prima Bhd's net loss widened to RM40.41 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 (1QFY19) from RM21.83 million in the previous corresponding period, as it continued to record declining advertising expenditure (adex) and newspaper sales.
Revenue fell 14.81% to RM239.10 million from RM280.67 million, as it registered lower revenue across all but its home shopping segment. Loss per share for the quarter rose to 3.64 sen from 1.97 sen, its stock exchange filing showed today.
Notably, its publishing segment saw a 40% slump in revenue as advertising sales fell 29% and newspaper sales dropped 30%. Lower advertising sales also affected its radio and television networks (low take-up rate in its free-to-air television segment), which posted a 40% and 12% fall in revenue, respectively.
Similarly affected was its digital media segment, which saw revenue contract 20% on lower contribution from digital advertising, as well as social media and digital marketing revenue.
Its content creation segment recorded a 23% fall in revenue on lower lower sales of TV programme production and sales of programme broadcast rights, though these were partially mitigated by lower content production cost. Its out-of-home segment's revenue also retreated, albeit by a marginal 4%, on lower occupancy on static roll-outs.
Only its home shopping segment saw a continued growth of 24% in revenue, contributed by greater exposure achieved through more hours dedicated for Home Shopping slots on NTV7 and Channel 9, which boosted sales.
The group said the first quarters have always been the lowest quarters for the group, based on past trends.
"Even though the decline can still be attributed to the continued shift of advertising spending to digital platforms, the group is confident of still maintaining strong market presence and capturing the adex market to a level sustainable for the group moving forward," the filing said.
In a separate statement, Media Prima chairman Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad said 1QFY19 was a challenging period not only for the media sector, as unfavourable macroeconomics conditions such as weak consumer sentiment and lower gross domestic product growth have affected various industries.
However, the group believes its 1QFY19 results will not be reflective of the group’s performance for the entire financial year.
“Barring unforeseen circumstances, we anticipate better performance in the next quarter of the financial year, as we align our business with the economic recovery,” he said.
Meanwhile, Media Prima group managing director Datuk Kamal Khalid said structural changes in the media sector will continue to disrupt Media Prima's traditional segments, though its existing traditional brands "still command an extensive reach and strong monetisation opportunities".
"While we will keep a close watch on our traditional businesses, digital and commerce revenue will remain our key focus areas in FY19.
"Moving forward, we will continue to invest our resources in key growth areas, as we are driven to see Media Prima become Malaysia’s leading digital-first content and commerce company," Kamal Khalid added.
Media Prima shares slipped 1 sen or 2.56% to close at 38 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM421.50 million.