Astro’s Q2FY23 Patami +13% Y-O-Y to RM98MN

Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad | Result highlights for the second quarter of the financial year  ending 31 January 2023 (Q2FY23) [All comparisons refer to the second quarter  of FY22 (Q2FY22) year-on-year (y-o-y) comparison, except as noted]: 

• Revenue at RM921mn 
• Q2FY23 PATAMI +13% y-o-y to RM98mn 
• ARPU at RM97.40 
• Second interim dividend of 1 sen per share 

Recovery in consumer sentiment remained uneven, due to inflationary pressure from heightened geopolitical event and global supply chain disruption. The Group’s Q2FY23 PATAMI rose 13% y-o-y to RM98mn, underpinned by cost discipline. 

The Group remained cash generative and proactive in its capital management. The Board has declared a second interim dividend of 1 sen per share. 

Henry Tan, Group Chief Executive Officer of Astro said: “Our recent exciting TV packages for the streaming world are attracting both new and existing customers. Meanwhile, our enterprise business saw more F&B outlets and hotels subscriptions, buoyed by reopening of the economy.” 

“As part of our streaming aggregation strategy, we have added beIN SPORTS CONNECT, iQIYI and TVBAnywhere+ apps on the Ultra Box; and Disney+ Hotstar app on the Ulti Box to give our customers greater convenience through a single platform. BBC Player and Zee5 apps will soon join our 7 existing streaming services, further strengthening Astro as the go-to entertainment destination for Malaysians. We have also introduced multi-user profile and thumbnail viewing as well as voice search on Astro GO allowing for better personalised content recommendations.” 

Over 670k homes are already on the Ultra and Ulti Boxes, which can run on both satellite and broadband. Astro GO has 524k monthly active users with average weekly viewing time of over 3 hours. 

On Demand shows streamed grew 27% y-o-y to 297mn. In Q2FY23, Astro’s broadband base increased by 40% y-o-y as more customers bundled broadband with content for convenience and value. 

Key Highlights 

• Radex and Digital Adex Saw Growth: In 1HFY23, Radex and Digital Adex rose 16% and 5% y-o-y respectively while total Adex stood at RM199mn. 

         Astro Radio brands continued to rank No.1 across all languages, registering 18mn weekly radio listeners (FM and digital). SYOK, Malaysia’s most popular audio entertainment app, saw its podcast monthly listens increase by 43% y-o-y to 1.1mn. 

        Radex, TV Adex and Digital Adex share stood at 73%, 32% and 3% respectively. Astro digital brands registered 11mn monthly unique visitors 

• Local Content Keep Winning Fans: 

o Astro’s dramas, Jangan Menangis Cinta reached over 1.4mn TV viewership and 5.1mn shows streamed, while Dendam Seorang Isteri registered 792k TV viewership and 5.6mn shows streamed

o Live signature shows, Sepahtu Reunion 2022 achieved 1mn TV viewership and 625k shows streamed while The Masked Singer Malaysia garnered 1.2mn TV viewership and 981k shows streamed 

o Astro Shaw movies continue to be box office hits: 

▪ Military action film, Air Force The Movie: Selagi Bernyawa (Box office collection of RM30mn) 

▪ Top action comedy franchise, Abang Long Fadil 3 (Box office collection of RM21mn to date) 

• Unrivalled Live Sports Coverage: 2022 is a major year of sports. After kicking off the new season of Premier League, Astro launched the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 campaign, offering its sports pack customers access to all 64 matches live in 4K UHD with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and also on the Astro GO app. 

       Its customers are also enjoying sports content like La Liga, Serie A and UEFA Champions League on the new beIN SPORTS  CONNECT app; and US Open Tennis Championships on the new sports channel, SPOTV2 

• sooka Winning Over Millennials: Our streaming service, sooka achieved 2.2mn app downloads, 616mn minutes watched to date with 86% users on mobile. sooka Originals, Kau vs Aku, achieved unique viewers of 93k with 3mn minutes watched 

• Positive Sustainability Impact: Astro continues to champion education for all, be the voice for good, care for the environment and community development through these initiatives: o Contributed over 2,000 school bags and RM140,000 to SK Magandai, SK Sg Paku, SK Malinsau and Starfish Malaysia Foundation in East Malaysia with proceeds raised  through Astro Kasih’s Walk For Education  

          o Organised Astro Kem Badminton 2022 with over 1,500 kids participating 

         o Championed a blood donation drive with Pusat Darah Negara; and audiobook initiative and RM50,000 donation for the Malaysian Association for The Blind 

        o Broadcast over 4,000 hours of Public Service Announcements in H1FY23 

        o Collected 990kg of e-waste in conjunction with an e-waste recycling campaign  

Outlook 

Tan said, “Through the New Astro Experience, we are committed to realise our vision to be The Entertainment Destination for Malaysians encompassing: 

• delivering the best content experience across all platforms; 
• becoming Malaysia’s No.1 aggregator of the best streaming services; 
• enhancing local content with more premium Astro Originals; 
• seizing opportunities for adjacencies in digital, broadband and commerce; and • leveraging on digital, data and technology to reimagine our business models.” 

“Investments into our transformation plan are ongoing, focusing on content, broadband, streaming, customer experience, data, addressable advertising and technology infrastructure to better serve our customers.” 

“Astro Fibre, our own internet service launched last quarter, has seen encouraging traction especially across our broadband-content bundles. We expect Astro Fibre to grow for the rest of the year.  Addressable Advertising is gaining traction in the market and will be enhanced with further relevant and appropriate audience measurement currency, slated for the second half of this year. We expect Addressable Advertising to have increased industry adoption over time and continue to grow.”

“We are now able to support more 4K UHD HDR channels and expect to have full back up satellite redundancy after taking delivery of the M3-d satellite in late July 2022. Consequently, we expect to have higher debt service obligations and increased foreign currency exposure, which will be managed with hedge instruments over time.” 

Macroeconomic conditions including rising interest rates, inflation, and the strength of the USD, as well as global geopolitical events continue to affect households and businesses. 

The Group maintains a cautious outlook and will continue to monitor business conditions, whilst prudently managing costs.