The decision is also part of the company
KUALA LUMPUR: Star Media Group Bhd
’s saw its net profit from continuing operations increase by five-fold to RM12.7mil for the first half of this year compared to last year on the back of cost savings and significant improvement to its print and digital business.
Apart from the print and digital business, which is the mainstay of the group, the event and exhibition segments also recorded improvements in profit before tax for the period.
The biggest contributor to the group’s bottom-line was the print and digital segment, reporting a higher profit before tax of RM19.33mil as compared to RM11.06mil a year ago.
This is mainly due to lower operating expenses expenses from print segment and higher digital revenue. This segment’s profit was also impacted by the losses from the OTT venture, dimsum.my, the group said in its notes accompany the second quarter result.
The event and exhibition segment saw revenue rise to RM9.57mil due to the higher number of events held during the period. As a result of higher revenue and better-cost management, profit before tax for the event and exhibition segment also increased to RM2.89mil from RM0.05mil a year ago.
The radio broadcasting segment generated RM15.37mil in revenue while profit before tax came in at RM1.63mil due to better cost management.
The stronger bottom line in the first six months for the print and digital segment came amidst revenue decreasing by 12.7%, largely due to the drop in momentum in advertisement spending after the general election.
For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, revenue came in at RM208.5mil.
For the second quarter, the group’s profit from continuing operations came in at RM1.4mil compared to a loss of RM1.3mil during the same period last year. The profitability is due to better cost management of its operations and efforts to optimise its workforce.
“Our transformation and rationalisation initiatives have resulted in driving down operating cost while improving efficiency.
“The result in the first half of 2018 group profit before tax figure reflects the efforts put in by the management in transforming the Company to be lean and agile,” the group said.
Moving forward, the group expects its Print and Digital segments to perform better in 2018, compared to 2017, as a result of better cost management and robust revenue growth from the Digital segment as more advertisers migrate into this space.
The company said that this segment of the business will however be affected by the retrenchment exercise related to the printing plant in Penang.
For dimsum, which is currently available in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, the group said it plans to expand the service regionally.
“Our subscribers for dimsum have grown significantly this past one year. The group will continue to drive subscription by bringing in the best of Asian content,” the company said.
The group added that it was encouraged by the performance of its radio segment following the restructuring completed in 2016,and expects the segment to contribute positively to its results.
In the events and exhibition business segment, the group said it will continue with its efforts to strengthen its market position and increase its number of events in the upcoming months.
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