“Astro is not stopping at Netflix, Disney Hotstar, HBO GO, and iQIYI. In 2022, the group will bundle in Indian streaming service Zee5 and the British Broadcasting Corp’s Player to its pay-TV and streaming offerings. There are others coming, too,” said CGS-CIMB Research.
PETALING JAYA: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd
is expected to maintain a positive outlook despite several headwinds.
CGS-CIMB Research said in a note yesterday that the Malaysian the pay-TV operator’s core net profit of the first quarter of financial year (1Q23) made up 25% of their full-year forecast, which was in line with expectations.
However, it was still 17.2% lower year-on-year (y-o-y) and 10.3% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q).
The group’s 1Q23 revenue also saw a decline by 9.4% y-o-y and 6.7% q-o-q. This was attributed to the diminishing subscription revenue by 5.9% y-o-y.
It was also due to concerns which investors had towards rising inflation rates, resulting in cutbacks on spending that caused a drop in advertising revenue by 5.5% y-o-y.
The research house in the report said that the group still managed to attract new subscribers following the launch of their new linear TV and streaming bundles, despite minor setbacks where some subscribers had severed their subscriptions or downgraded to lower packages.
“Astro is not stopping at Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, HBO GO, and iQIYI. In 2022, the group will bundle in Indian streaming service Zee5 and the British Broadcasting Corp’s Player to its pay-TV and streaming offerings. There are others coming, too,” said CGS-CIMB Research.
Additionally, streaming players, including mainstream global streaming services, who have yet to make a presence in the Malaysian market, have approached them for tie-ups.
