Asian Pay TV Trust declares 0.3 S cent DPU for Q2

FOR the second quarter ended June 30, Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) has declared an ordinary interim distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.3 Singapore cent, to be paid on Sept 27.

In its results announcement on Wednesday, the business trust reaffirmed its distribution guidance for DPU of 1.2 cents per year for 2019 and 2020, expected to be paid quarterly at 0.3 cent per quarter.

"The distribution guidance of 1.2 cents per unit per year for 2019 and 2020, subject to no material changes in planning assumptions, will also result in annual cash savings of over S$76 million, enabling the trust to use operational cash flows to fund capital expenditure and reduce the dependence on borrowings," said APTT.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the quarter was down 3.8 per cent at S$44.5 million, compared with S$46.3 million in the year-ago period. This was despite an improved EBITDA margin of 61.6 per cent, up from 59.6 per cent.

Revenue for the quarter fell 6.9 per cent to S$72.2 million, with lower revenue for each segment: basic cable TV, premium digital cable TV, and broadband.

Chief executive officer Brian McKinley said: "Notwithstanding the intense competition, our premium digital cable TV and broadband subscriber base has been steadily growing for the past five quarters, which more than offset the basic cable TV churn." He added that APTT is confident of growing its fixed-line broadband market share beyond the current 31 per cent.

APTT units closed up 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.59 per cent at 17 Singapore cents on Wednesday before the results release.