FGV third quarter loss narrows

FGV profit before interest & tax (Excluding impairment & land least agreement (LLA)

The plantation giant narrowed its losses in the period with net losses coming in at Rm262.41mil compared with Rm849.46mil a year ago.

PETALING JAYA: Star Media Group Bhd (SMG) has posted a higher pre-tax profit for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 (3Q19) compared with the same period last year after stripping out exceptional gains.

The group announced that its third-quarter pre-tax profit came in at Rm0.91mil compared with a loss of Rm0.88mil in 3Q18, if the gain on disposal of Leaderonomics of Rm3.33mil was excluded from 3Q18.

For the nine months of its 2019 financial year, SMG posted a pre-tax profit of Rm9.7mil and a net profit of Rm5.6mil against Rm22.3mil and Rm14.4mil, respectively, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue was recorded at Rm239.9mil against Rm299.6mil previously.

During the third quarter, SMG said print revenue declined as opposed to 3Q18, as most advertisers were moving on to digital platforms.

“Excluding the OTT business, which is on incubation mode, this segment recorded a profit of Rm6.7mil in 3Q19,” it said.

As for radio broadcasting, it said the segment generated a higher revenue amounting to Rm6.6mil in 3Q19 as compared with Rm6.5mil in 3Q18.

Its events and exhibition segment performed well in 3Q19, recording a revenue of Rm5.4mil compared with Rm2.6mil previously.

This segment recorded a pre-tax profit of

Rm0.7mil in 3Q19 compared with a loss of Rm0.7mil in 3Q18.

As for its prospects, it expected revenue growth from its digital segment in the remaining year, despite soft and challenging market conditions.

“The group will focus on using new technologies and analytics to improve, deepen and predict how our customers consume content with the end goal of increasing engagement and monetisation to drive new revenue streams beyond print.

“The group continues to serve the best Asian content on dimsum with simulcast and exclusive premiers from Asian content partners. dimsum is currently available in

Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The company will explore ways to diversify and enhance dimsum’s revenue stream,” it said.

It said its radio segment is expected to perform satisfactorily despite the slowing economy.

“We will focus on Chinese and Malay audiences and allow to develop in-depth knowledge of our audiences, to enhance our product’s performance. In the events and exhibition business segment, the group will continue its efforts to strengthen its market position.

“The company and the board of directors will focus and strengthen its key strategies to ensure a satisfactory performance for the group,” it said.