KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd
’s full-year results for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2026 (FY26) came largely in line with Kenanga Research’s expectations and exceeded consensus estimates.
Kenanga Research said Astro’s FY26 core net profit of RM19mil, down 81% year-on-year (YoY), meeting 110% of the house’s forecast and 125% of the street’s estimates.
The results were weighed down by lower ARPU and elevated costs but exceeded consensus expectations.
Revenue fell 9% to RM2.79bil, driven by an 8% decline in TV subscription income and a 15% drop in advertising across TV, radio, and digital. ARPU softened to RM94.30 as the group expanded lower-priced ASTRO One packages.
Pay-TV gross additions, however, grew 14% YoY in 4QFY26, marking the second consecutive quarter of growth and signalling early stabilisation in the subscriber base.
Rising staff, broadband, marketing, and restructuring costs pushed EBITDA down 15% to RM116.5mil. Astro Shaw contributed to revenue with six of the top ten local films in FY26, including Papa Zola, which grossed RM69mil.
“We have cut our FY27F earnings by 32% and lowered our target price to RM0.08 from RM0.125, as we shift our valuation methodology from DCF to price-to-book (P/B).”
“We upgrade Astro to ‘market perform’ from ‘underperform’ as we believe value has emerged with current depressed valuations already reflecting earnings risks. Meanwhile, a potential recovery in subscriber base offers upside,” Kenanga said.
Separately, TA Securities said Astro’s FY26 core net profit came in below both its own and consensus forecasts, dragged by higher content costs, weaker contributions from new TV packages, and lower Pay-TV subscriptions.
Advertising revenue also fell 12.9% year-on-year, while shifts to lower-priced Astro One packages weighed on ARPU.
TA Securities has lowered its FY27 and FY28 earnings forecasts by 27.4% and 5.7%, respectively, following upward revisions in content cost assumptions of 7–8%.
The brokerage downgraded Astro to “sell” and cut its target price to RM0.07 from RM0.11.A potential re-rating catalyst would be if the Astro One strategy gains meaningful traction and delivers on subscription growth.
