PETALING JAYA: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd recorded a revenue of RM820 million for its fourth quarter of the financial year ended Jan 31, 2024 showing resilence amid ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and foreign currency volatility.
The group’s normalised profit after tax and minority interests (Patami), which excludes unrealised forex losses on transponder lease liabilities, closed at RM35 million.
In addition, it generated free cashflows of RM134 million, 3.8x of normalised Patami and remains prudent and proactive in its capital management amid the known macro and industry challenges.
The group recorded a full-year normalised Patami of RM181 million in FY24. Moreover, its dividend policy is to pay dividends annually out of consolidated Patami. The dividend declared in respect of FY24 amounted to 0.25 sen per share, equating to a 31% payout ratio for the full year.
Group CEO Euan Smith said that it continues to focus on providing content and services, accelerating growth in new businesses as well as transforming its legacy cost base to reflect the new realities of the Pay-TV landscape.
“Despite a rather turbulent economic landscape and the challenges of reinvention faced by PayTV operators globally, Astro remains resilient, implementing multiple initiatives that broaden our technology accessibility and convenience, as well as diversifying our business.
“We continue to lead the content landscape, producing highly successful signatures and dramas which garnered great traction amongst our viewers. All Stars Gegar Vaganza, Malaysia’s No.1 show, needs no introduction with Season 10 being a huge success drawing over 8 million TV viewers nationwide. Immediately after, The Masked Singer Malaysia Season 4 marked a remarkable milestone as the show was held live every Sunday night for the very first time.
“Our drama series and movies have once again proved we are the best storytellers in the nation. Dramas such as My Famous Ex-Boyfriend, Layang-Layang Perkahwinan, Takdir Itu Milik Aku and Hero Seorang Cinderella 2 are driving high engagement amongst viewers across all our platforms. We are confident that fans will be pleased with our Ramadan and Raya offerings as we deliver a compelling slate of crowd favourites, impactful and endearing titles to usher in the festivities,” he said in a statement.
“Moreover, Astro Originals continues to release innovative series that defy conventional storytelling. Our latest production, I.D, depicts the manipulation of personal data for individual gain over the security of others. As a responsible content producer, we aim to be a catalyst for edutainment, bringing to the fore real-life issues such as online scams and data theft which have been depicted so brilliantly in the series. Similarly exciting titles such as Framed, X-Change and Project: Exit will be making their way onto screens soon,” he added.
Apart from the aforementioned firsts, he said that Sports on Astro marked a historical moment during the final match of Piala Malaysia between JDT and Terengganu was aired in Dolby Atmos as well as 4K UHD. Harimau Malaya’s unforgettable performance against South Korea, one of Asia’s best teams at the AFC Asian Cup was televised live on Astro, and we were honoured to be given the opportunity to bring the nation together to cheer for our national team thus providing an exhilarating viewing experience for our fellow Malaysians.
“The return of the highly successful Liga M also attested to our commitment in supporting local sports which garnered 8 million in viewership in season 2023. Another major sporting highlight that will see our national athletes taking centre stage is the Thomas & Uber Cups, which will be aired on Astro LIVE from Chengdu, China.
“As we accelerate into 2024, we are thrilled to welcome our customers in joining us on our journey of discovering more amazing memories and experiences with Astro,” he said.
In terms of outlook, he said that investments continue to be firmly focused on long-term and sustainable growth.
“Notwithstanding all this activity, the group continues to maintain a cautious outlook, carefully monitoring business conditions and ensuring effective cost discipline,” he added.
“The current strength of the US Dollar continues to impact multiple cost lines in our business, whilst local economic conditions (exacerbated by geopolitical factors) and softening customer sentiments (including the impact of the recent Service Tax revision) also present challenges to the industry.
“In softening the impact of these challenges, we have introduced more affordable entry points on both PayTV and sooka to drive affordability during the last quarter, further enhancing the value of our products and services,” he added.
