ASTRO - Malaysian Direct Broadcast Satellite Pay TV Service Provider

Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad operates as an integrated consumer media entertainment group in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The company is primarily engaged in the creation, aggregation, and distribution of content over various delivery platforms comprising pay-TV, radio, publications, and digital media. It offers 171 TV channels, including 68 Astro-created and branded channels, as well as 39 HD channels delivered via direct-to-home satellite TV, IPTV, and OTT platforms. The company has a customer base of 3.9 million residential customers. Astro provides HD, 3D, PVR, VOD, catch-up TV, and IPTV services through Astro B.yond and Astro On-The-Go. It also offers Njoi, a non-subscription based DTH satellite TV offering 22 TV and 20 radio channels. The company's radio business comprises radio stations available over FM and DTH, as well as through online, social media, and mobile platforms consisting of the highest rated radio stations in various languages reaching approximately 12 million weekly listeners and 3 million unique visitors per month over its terrestrial stations and digital streaming services. Its digital arm is involved in digital publishing, applications, and platforms, as well as publication of entertainment and lifestyle magazines. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

CORPORATE STRUCTURE

MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

COMMENTS

For FY14, ASTRO recorded a 7.2% increase in earnings to RM448m on the back of a 12.3% rise in sales to RM4.79b. The higher earnings for FY14 was entirely attributed to lower tax expenses as ASTRO actually recorded a 1% decline in profit at the PBT level. The slightly lower PBT for FY14 was mainly attributed to the higher content costs attributable to introduction of additional channels, increase in license fees, increase in installation, marketing and distribution costs in relation to higher customer acquisition as well as higher depreciation of set-top boxes from Beyond box swap out and amortisation of softwares.

As at 31/01/2014, the Pay-TV residential subscribers of ASTRO stood 3,442,300, up by 166,600 subscribers, or 5.1%, from that a year ago. For the FY14, its Pay-TV residential ARPU rose by 3% to RM96 due to higher demand for value-added services such as HD, PVR, On Demand and SuperPack. 

The FY14 EPS rose to 8.62 sen from 8.04 sen in FY13. DPS for FY14 is 9.0 sen and DPS for CY15 is projected to increase slightly to 10 sen nett.

ANNUAL REPORT
FINANCIAL RESULTS
PRICE TARGET