A model looking at The Star Online, the website of The Star.
PETALING JAYA: Star Media Group Bhd
will continue to expand its existing media platforms, taking into account its second phase of digital transformation.
The company said that it would continue to provide more bundled products and creative buys to advertisers, as well as organise client-driven events to harness its aggressive move into the digital business space.
Cityneon Holdings Ltd, a company that is in the virtual reality exhibition business with intellectual property rights, was Star Media Group’s first digital transformation initiative, while dimsum.my, a video-on-demand service that focuses entirely on Asian content, was launched last year as the second wave.
dimsum, in its next stage of expansion, will introduce more Malay and Indian content to complement its existing array of movies, dramas and news in three languages – Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin.
Star Media Group’s digital revenue grew by 42% in the first quarter compared to the corresponding quarter a year ago.
However, it could not mitigate the overall performance of the print and digital segment as pre-tax profit from this business division, which is the mainstay of Star Media Group, decreased to RM8.09mil in the first quarter compared to RM27.16mil last year.
As a whole, Star Media Group recorded revenue of RM183.10mil and a net profit of RM9.27mil for the first quarter ended March 31 this year.
Poor market sentiment and weak advertising expenditure (adex) led to a decline of 19.5% in the revenue of the print and digital segment.
According to a research firm, the adex for newspapers in the first quarter this year fell by 22.6%.
The events and exhibition segment recorded a pre-tax profit of RM7.51mil in the quarter compared to a pre-tax loss of RM1.76mil last year. Revenue was also higher at RM54.13mil.
The performance of this segment is mainly due to Cityneon.
Going forward, the company said that the proposed disposal of its 52.51% stake in Cityneon would allow the company to unlock its investments in the subsidiary and concentrate on the expansion of its primary business.
The proceeds from the proposed disposal of S$115.61mil (RM360.18mil) will improve Star Media Group’s cash reserves and give it more leeway to look for new investment opportunities in its digital transformation.
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