Asian Pay Television Trust guides for 6.5 to 7-cent distribution for 2016

PAY-TV business trust Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) on Tuesday reported net profit of S$16.2 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015, flat compared with S$16.3 million a year ago.

Revenue was up 4.6 per cent to S$85.6 million from S$81.8 million due to higher revenue across all its segments.

For the full year, net profit was down 60.5 per cent to S$45.2 million while revenue was up 4.2 per cent to S$332.2 million.

For its core basic cable TV segment, higher revenue for the year was mainly due to foreign exchange effects. This was offset by increased costs, including the writing off of unamortised financing fees to lenders on previous borrowing facilities.

The trust declared a distribution of 2.25 cents a unit for Q4, and guided for a distribution of 6.5 to 7 cents a unit for its 2016 financial year.

It said 2016 revenue will be influenced by continued weakness in the Taiwanese economy, marginally lower cable TV rates in three franchise areas, and the lack of one-off revenue from higher advertising sales in the run-up to the Taiwanese elections. Staff and programming costs are also expected to increase as more basic channel providers upgrade their content to high-definition formats.

APTT last traded at S$0.615 a unit.