Asian Pay TV posts Q3 DPU of 0.25 S cent

MAINBOARD-LISTED Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) has declared an ordinary interim distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.25 Singapore cent for the third quarter ended Sept 30, down 16.7 per cent from its DPU of 0.3 cent in the year-ago period.

The board has reaffirmed distribution guidance of 0.25 cent per unit for the fourth quarter, subject to no material changes in planning assumptions, APTT said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

Net profit for the quarter fell 12.9 per cent to S$4.5 million, from S$5.1 million a year earlier, as the firm posted higher expenses.

Meanwhile, revenue rose 4 per cent on the year to S$75.9 million, from S$73 million in Q3 2019.

APTT noted that its premium digital cable TV and broadband subscribers have been steadily increasing for the past 10 quarters. For the three months ended Sept 30, it added about 10,000 premium digital cable TV subscribers and 2,000 broadband subscribers, which more than offset basic cable TV churn, APTT said.

However, in constant Taiwan dollar, total revenue for the quarter was lower by 2.3 per cent versus the corresponding period last year, APTT noted.

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Operating expenses rose 2.5 per cent to S$30.7 million for the quarter, mainly due to the impact of foreign exchange.

APTT is a business trust with a mandate to own and operate pay-TV and broadband businesses in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

As at 10.04am on Thursday, APTT units were trading at 11.7 Singapore cents, up 0.3 cent or 2.6 per cent.