PETALING JAYA: Star Media Group Bhd (SMG) achieved an encouraging result for the second quarter (Q2) which ended June 30, 2021 with total revenue increasing by 48% to RM46.74mil compared with RM31.5mil in the corresponding quarter in 2020.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, SMG said the improvement was mainly driven by its digital and radio segments.
There was also an improvement in the bottom-line performance.
The Group’s pre-tax loss improved from RM27.25mil to RM5.10mil in Q2 2021, if the one-off item on the impairment on plant, property and equipment amounting to RM32.66 million is excluded.
For the current quarter under review, SMG's radio segment has also turned profitable to record a pre-tax profit of RM1.36mil compared with a loss of RM2.98mil in Q2 2020.
Print and digital segment revenue in Q2 2021 has increased, with a 17% growth in the digital revenue attributed to the increase in digital advertorial, growth marketing and paywall subscription revenue.
SMG noted that this segment recorded a better performance with a lower pre-tax loss of RM6.49mil in the quarter under review attributed to the savings in operating expenses arising from the cost rationalisation exercise carried out by the Group in the second half of 2020.
The group' event and exhibition segment, meanwhile, recorded a loss amounting to RM0.32mil in Q2 2021 as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a lot of SMG's offline events to be cancelled.
"However, the Group has taken this opportunity to explore online alternatives such as webinars and Virtual Fairs to limit the fallout from these cancelled events," it noted.
For the first half of 2021 (H1 2021), the group's total revenue fell 8% to RM89.35mil mainly due to the high base in Q 2020 as the pandemic and MCO only started to kick in from March 2020.
SMG said "Our Digital and Radio segments remain resilient during this challenging time, which recorded a double- digit increase in revenue during the period under review."
The Group has also recorded an improvement in its bottomline performance with a lower pre-tax loss of RM19.12mil in H1 2021 compared with RM30.49mil in 1H 2020, if the impairment on plant, property and equipment of RM32.66mil is excluded.
On the group's prospects, SMG said the Group, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, will remain focused on its digital transformation initiatives and strategies across all media platforms and will continue to improve its operational efficiencies.
Amid the challenging media industry landscape, SMG will also be on the look out for merger and acquisition opportunities as well as to penetrate into new businesses that have a promising outlook.
Despite the challenging environment, the Group has continued to progress with its digital transformation initiatives to improve its costs and operational efficiencies.
In view of rapid changes in media consumption trends, SMG also will focus on sustaining its investment in the digital space and attracting digital revenue.
This will be done by introducing new products and rejuvenating existing ones to keep up with the changing market needs, it added.
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