Written by Joseph Chin
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 19:24
KUALA LUMPUR: ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS PLC [] staged a turnaround in the third quarter ended Oct 31 with net profit of RM133.08 million compared with a net loss of RM250.37 million a year ago.
The pay-TV operator said on Wednesday, Dec 9 that revenue was higher at RM863.48 million versus RM744.54 million. Earnings per share were 6.88 sen compared with loss per share of 12.95 sen.
It declared an interim dividend of 2.5 sen per share for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2010. The dividend would be paid on Jan 20.
On the prospects, it expected the Malaysian TV business to continue to drive strong performance and this was expected to continue for the rest of the year.
In the third quarter, Malaysian TV revenues benefited from continued subscriber growth, as well as an improvement in EBITDA margins due to increased pricing, introduction of new packages and disciplined cost management.
The direct-to-home TV joint venture business in India, Sun Direct TV, reported strong subscriber growth with some 500,000 new customers activated for the quarter ended 31 October 2009, bringing the total to 4.0 million customers.
"Consistent with the group's accounting policies, the Group will account for its anticipated share of Sun Direct TV's losses of up to approximately 7.110 billion rupees (RM510 million), over five years," it said.
Astro also said it would launch its next generation range of services, commencing with High Definition television and high level interactivity and connectivity, in December this year.
This involved upgrading broadcast infrastructure to facilitate the new levels of service and interactivity required by the inclusion of Internet Protocols in its set-top boxes.
"The roll out is estimated to cost some RM200 million, including marketing and operating costs of approximately RM150m, over the next financial year, ahead of revenue and earnings from these services," it said.