Astro’s Q3 net profit jumps to RM153.22m

KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s net profit jumped to RM153.22 million in the third quarter ended October 31, from RM146.68 million in the same period a year ago.

The direct broadcast satellite pay-TV service provider said the higher net profit was attributable to an increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, which rose 13 per cent to RM472.6 million against the corresponding quarter.

However, revenue slid to RM1.38 billion from RM1.40 billion previously, mainly due to a fall in subscription revenue on lower package take-up, it said in filing yesterday.

In a separate statement, chief executive officer Henry Tan said overall, Astro Malaysia had a strong market reach, which grew six per cent year-on-year to 5.7 million customers, or 76 per cent of Malaysian households, as at the third quarter this year, enabling better monetisation across its verticals of pay, prepaid, advertising expenditure and e-commerce platforms.

Astro said in the coming months, it would roll out a new user interface featuring content portability, mobility and a seamless and enriched viewing experience across multiple devices, and improved content discovery.

However, moving forward, the group expects to encounter some revenue challenges amid the global trend of structural change in the media industry.