KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — MIDF Research foresees stronger earnings growth for Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd , following the phased reopening of the economy which would support Astro’s advertising revenue.
“All factors considered, we maintain our ‘buy’ call on Astro. The downside risks to our call include lower-than-expected subscription and advertising expenditure , and an increase in access to pirated streaming sites,” it said in a research note today. Revenue dropped 2.8 per cent to RM1.06 billion from RM1.09 billion previously — mainly due to the decline in subscription revenue and merchandise sales — but this was offsetted by the increase in advertising revenue and sales of programming rights.
Astro had also incurred higher content costs following the airing of EURO 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics which has led to a slight reduction of -0.5 per cent y-o-y in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin.