Asian Pay TV Trust posts Q1 DPU of 0.25 S cent; net profit up 20.8%

MAINBOARD-LISTED Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) has declared a distribution per unit (DPU) of 0.25 Singapore cent for the first quarter ended March 31, down 16.7 per cent from its DPU of 0.3 cent in the year-ago period.

The board has also reaffirmed a distribution guidance of one Singapore cent per unit for 2021, subject to no material changes in planning assumptions, the trustee-manager said in a bourse filing on Wednesday.

The Q1 distribution of 0.25 Singapore cent will be paid out on June 25, after the record date on June 18.

Meanwhile, net profit for the quarter rose 20.8 per cent to S$7.3 million, from S$6 million the year before. This translates to an earnings per share (EPS) of 0.4 Singapore cent, from an EPS of 0.42 cent the year before.

Revenue dropped 6.2 per cent to S$74.4 million, from S$79.3 million the year prior. The trustee-manager said total revenue was influenced by factors including continued challenges in the economic and operating environment.

It noted that its premium digital cable TV and broadband subscribers have been "steadily increasing" for the past 12 quarters. APTT added about 6,000 premium digital cable TV and around 5,000 broadband subscribers during the quarter, which more than offset basic cable TV churn during the period.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

The trustee-manager expects to spend less compared to the last three years, although capital expenditure to increase network capacity and speed will continue.

"With capital expenditure trending down, APTT's balance sheet is expected to strengthen further," the trustee-manager added. It also projects total operating expenses in 2021 to be in line with last year's figures.

As at 1.25pm on Wednesday, units of APTT were trading at 11.1 Singapore cents, down 0.1 cent or 0.9 per cent.