Media Chinese affected by challenging operating environment

No. 1 - Sin Chew Jit Poh

KUALA LUMPUR: Media Chinese International Ltd (MCIL), which publishes Sin Chew Daily and China Press, continued to be affected by a challenging operating environment across its major markets in the second quarter (Q2) ended Sept 30, 2016.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MCIL announced earnings of RM21.28mil on revenue of RM353.44mil in the quarter, compared with RM31.48mil and RM402.41mil respectively a year earlier.

The group’s Malaysian segment’s profit before tax fell 23% to US$7.2mil, as its operations in the country were affected by the local decelerating economy and weak consumer sentiments that continued to negatively impact the advertising market.

However, the publishing and printing operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China reported an 826% ncrease in profit before tax to US$213,000 through effective cost control measures and improved educational products business.

Segment loss incurred by its North America operations was reduced to US$476,000 from US$626,000 in the same quarter last year, mainly due to stringent cost-saving measures.

The weak consumer market and drop in the number of tourists going to Europe dragged down the tour segment’s profit before tax to US$1.5mil from US$3.62mil in the corresponding quarter of 2015. Europe is one of the segment’s major tour destinations.

For the first half of the financial year ended March 31, 2017 (FY17), the group’s turnover and profit before tax were US$168.25mil and US$14.54mil, representing decreases of 14.7% and 38.3% respectively from the same period last year. 

“Turnover declined as a result of continued market weakness across all the group’s business segments, which effect was partially mitigated by savings from cost control measures,” the newspaper and magazine publisher said.

On the outlook of the remaining quarters, MCIL’s group chief executive officer Francis Tiong said the board expected that the group’s operating environment in the second half of FY17 would remain difficult and challenging. 

“The publishing and printing segment is expecting increased competitive pressures from other media along with declining print advertising expenditures. Moreover, weak consumer sentiments as well as safety concerns and cut-throat competition will continue to affect the group’s travel business in the quarters ahead,” he said.

“Newsprint prices are expected to remain stable in the second half of FY17, and the group will continue its stringent cost-control measurements on newsprint consumption in light of the challenging business environment.

“On top of that, the group will continue to drive for operational efficiency while focusing on revenue generation and profitability.”