Astro advertising revenue down despite improved second quarter

Astro reported a 3% drop in advertising revenue in the first half of the year, despite an improved performance in the second quarter.

TV Adex climbed 8% to RM86m in the three months to July 31, driven by a strong TV viewership share, the company said.

But it could not prevent a half year fall of 3% to RM302m in what Astro again described a “challenging environment”.

Astro said it outperformed the industry adex which fell 5%.

Overall revenue in Q2 tumbled 13% to RM1.2b while profit climbed a dramatic 920% to RM160m.

Average revenue per user jumped 10% to RM100.

Astro chief executive Henry Tan said “rigorous cost discipline” enabled the operator to “optimise content spend and operating expenses”.

But the company warned the market remains tough with “structural changes in the global content, media and marketing industries, including threat of piracy”.