MEDIA PRIMA BERHAD ANNOUNCES QUARTER 2 FINANCIAL RESULTS

KUALA LUMPUR, 14 August 2017–Media Prima Berhad (“Media Prima” or “The Group”), Malaysia’s leading fully-integrated media Group today announced its second quarter results for the financial period ended 30 June 2017 (“2QFY17”).

Media Prima’s revenue for 2QFY17 grew by 21% against the immediate preceding quarter (1QFY17) as core advertising revenue started to gain momentum after a slow start earlier in the year. However, the Group incurred a Loss After Tax (“LAT”) of RM138.4 million for 2QFY17 due to the one-off impairment of investment in MNI of RM142.4 million. If the one-off impairment was excluded, the Group posted a Profit After Tax (“PAT”) of RM4.0 million for the second quarter.

Revenue for the financial period ended 30 June 2017 declined by 8% against the previous corresponding financial period. The Group recorded revenue of RM 601 million for the six-month period of 2017. This was primarily attributed to changes in consumer behaviour and digital disruptions that have impacted the media industry as a whole.
The Group recorded 1HFY17 LAT of RM179.8 million against PAT of RM41.6 million in the corresponding period, reflecting the impact of the impairment. If the one-off impairment was excluded, the Group posted a lower LAT of RM37.3 million.

While the Group has ventured into new digital and consumer-based business initiatives to complement its traditional media segments, they remain in a period of gestation. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Ismee Ismail, Chairman of Media Prima, said, “Media Prima is committed to delivering value to our shareholders by capitalising on the increasing demand for e-commerce and digital content among consumers. The Group had initiated key initiatives in 2016 to enable new revenue streams while we consolidate our market share in the core advertising revenue. Amongst this, the Group had also concluded the acquisition of REV Asia Holdings Sdn Bhd in August 2017 which will significantly strengthen Media Prima’s digital reach to derive revenue from the growth in digital advertising”.

Media Prima’s Home Shopping venture is a significant contributor to Media Prima’s revenue with sales in excess of RM90 million during the first year of its operations. The Group plans to increase CJ Wow Shop’s exposure to further tap the nation’s growing home shopping/e-commerce market and is also looking to expand by diversifying into more local product offerings.

Datuk Kamal Khalid, Group Managing Director of Media Prima said, “While we are pleased with the progress made by our Home Shopping subsidiary, the Group is also encouraged by the performance of our Out-of-Home and Digital Media businesses which recorded 10% and 22% growth in revenue during the first six-months of 2017. The roll out of new advertising sites along the MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang Line as well as the upward trend in digital content consumption amongst consumers bodes well for both platforms moving forward”.

Datuk Kamal added that the Group remains committed to its business transformation initiatives that will see Media Prima defend its traditional sources of income and increasing efforts in growing new revenue streams. The foundation for these endeavours is placed on several key areas which include market leadership in broadcast, over-the-top (OTT) content and digital publishing.

Media Prima Television Networks’s (“MPTN”) OTT service tonton, for example, has expanded its customer base and reach to Singapore and Brunei through a smart collaboration with Singapore’s principal telecommunications provider Singtel and Brunei’s largest telecommunications provider DST Sdn Bhd.

Media Prima Radio Networks (“MPRN”) have managed to ramp up its already strong digital presence by launching its podcast platform, Ais Kacang, and e-commerce service, SuperDeals. The new initiatives provide MPRN with new ways to entice advertisers by offering an all-rounded solutions which include on-air and digital exposure.

On the Content Creation front, Primeworks Studio’s exploration into potential new intellectual properties for animation and co-production with external broadcasters have started to bear fruit too. Primeworks is currently in negotiations with international content producers to co-produce content. At the same time, Primeworks, with a content library of over 100k hours, has made significant inroads into the OTT space by selling content to Netflix and Iflix. This month the first five of many titles will be rolled out on Netflix.

The Group’s business transformation initiative would also see Media Prima’s Print platform evolve into a leading player in digital publishing. The focus remains for The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad (“NSTP) to be a digital-first content provider. NSTP currently records monthly unique visitors of more than 20 million for its three online portals namely, New Straits Times, MyMetro and BH Online.

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For further information, kindly contact:
Media Prima Berhad at: 603- 1300 300 672 Ext: 8949 or 03 – 2724 8949
Azlan Abdul Aziz at [email protected]/ or 6012-614 0522
www.mediaprima.com.my/http://twitter.com/MPBtalk