Asian Pay TV Trust declares 0.3 S cent DPU for Q3

PAY TV firm Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) declared an ordinary interim distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.3 Singapore cent for its third quarter, versus 1.625 cents a year ago, to be paid on Dec 24.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the quarter ended Sept 30 was down 12.1 per cent to S$43 million from S$48.9 million as the company continued to cite challenging market conditions in Taiwan.

Revenue was down 8.6 per cent to S$73 million from S$79.8 million.

Operating expenses continued to decline due to lower broadcast and production costs, down 3.1 per cent to S$30 million from S$31 million.

The mainboard-listed firm has re-affirmed distribution guidance for 2019 and 2020 at 1.20 cents per unit per year.

APTT chief executive officer Brian McKinley said: "We have been steadily adding premium digital cable TV and broadband subscribers over the last six quarters and are heartened with the strong increase in the third quarter.

"To manage pressure on ARPU (average revenue per user), we will continue with cost management initiatives and pursue our broadband growth strategy, driving higher speed plans, developing new market segments and introducing more value-added solutions that leverage the Android gateway."

APTT units closed unchanged at S$0.165 on Friday.