Asian Pay Television Trust's Q4 profit falls 29% to S$11.5m

HIGHER income tax costs and a drop in net foreign exchange gain dented results for Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) for its fourth quarter.

Net profit fell 29.4 per cent to S$11.5 million from the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Monday morning.

For the three months ended Dec 31, 2017, revenue crept up 0.9 per cent to S$84.7 million from the previous year, helped in part by foreign exchange.

Earnings per unit sank to 0.8 Singapore cent, from 1.14 Singapore cents in the preceding year.

Dividend per unit was flat at 1.625 Singapore cents. This brings total distributions declared to 6.5 cents per unit for the year ended Dec 31, 2017. The books closure date is on March 16, 2018 and the distribution will be paid on March 23.

The board also re-affirmed the distribution guidance for the year ending Dec 31, 2018 - that it is expected to be consistent with 2017 at 6.5 cents per unit, paid in quarterly instalments of 1.625 cents per unit.