MEDIA PRIMA COMMERCE, DIGITAL REVENUE UP 89PC
Group’s total digital and commerce revenue rises 89pc to RM193m
LEADING integrated media group Media Prima Bhd (MPB) is confident that results derived from strategic initiatives undertaken last year would accelerate its transformation into a leading digital-first content and commerce company.
MPB’s total digital and commerce revenue rose 89 per cent to RM193 million in the financial year ended December 31.
The strong revenue growth was driven by increased demand for digital advertising, rising popularity of digital content and growing e-commerce.
Among the initiatives that performed well in the 2017 financial year was home-shopping business CJ Wow Shop, with a customer base of 640,000 shoppers and total sales of RM130 million.
Education portal FullAMark reached more than 5,000 subscribers, with a 52 per cent conversion rate from registered to paid subscribers, a significant increase from 15 per cent conversion rate in 2016.
Media Prima Television Network’s tonton expanded its reach to Brunei and Singapore, with more plans to expand regionally.
Revenue generated from tonton increased 38 per cent last year, on the back of higher user subscription to the service. It has more than 7.6 million registered users and recorded 84 per cent increase in hours watched and 104 per cent increase in average watch time.
For the year under review, MPB ranked third in Malaysia behind Google and Facebook in digital reach after the acquisition of Rev Asia Holdings Sdn Bhd, one of Southeast Asia’s leading digital media companies.
MPB’s monthly digital audience hit 11.1 million in November last year.
The rapid increase in digital reach was also attributed to the implementation of digital-first strategies across the group, which benefited The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) as it aims to capitalise on the growing demand for digital news content.
NSTP’s online news portals are industry leaders, according to ComScore Inc data as at December last year. Harian Metro was in pole position with 4.7 million monthly unique visitors, BH was in second place with 3.9 million visitors and New Straits Times reached 1.3 million last year.
“We will continue to make strategic and prudent investments to enhance long-term shareholder value,” said MPB group chairman Tan Sri Ismee Ismail in a statement yesterday.
Group managing director Datuk Kamal Khalid said: “Last year, we continued to dominate the digital space with our award-winning content. We believe the group has established much-needed foundations to grow further.”
Nonetheless, the challenging operating environment has impacted the industry. The drop in total advertising expenditure resulted in lower revenues for MPB’s television, print and radio platforms.
Revenue for the year under review declined seven per cent against the previous year. This was attributed to lower advertising and newspaper sales as consumers increasingly shift to digital media.
The group recorded a net loss of RM669.7 million last year against a net loss of RM69.8 million in the previous year. This was mainly due to impairment charges and resizing of the workforce in line with the focus to become a digital-first content and commerce company.
If these were excluded, the group would post a lower lossafter-tax of RM172.3 million.
“We will continue to find new ways to leverage the strengths of our traditional media brands to meet evolving consumer trends while capitalising on the demand for more digital products,” said Kamal.