Asian Pay TV Trust Q1 net profit down 41% to S$7.1 million

ASIAN Pay Television Trust : S7OU 0% (APTT) announced a 41 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit to S$7.1 million for Q1, from S$12.1 million the previous year.

This came as revenue in Q1 fell 8.8 per cent to S$67.1 million from S$73.6 million on foreign exchange losses, the company said on Friday (May 12).

This was despite a 0.4 per cent rise in revenue in constant Taiwan dollars – boosted by broadband subscriptions – and lower operating expenses. The unfavourable forex rate movements were reported to have contributed to a negative variance of 9.2 per cent for the quarter.

The mainboard-listed pay television and broadband company reaffirmed its full-year distribution guidance of S$0.0105 per unit for 2023. The distribution will be paid in half-yearly instalments of S$0.00525 per unit, subject to no material changes in planning assumptions.

Basic cable TV revenue in Q1 was down 12.4 per cent year on year to S$47.9 million, from S$54.7 million the year before. Premium digital cable TV revenue fell 11 per cent to S$2.7 million, from S$3.1 million previously. The decline was attributed to competition from aggressively priced Internet protocol TV and video piracy issues.

Meanwhile, broadband revenue increased 4.2 per cent to S$16.5 million for the quarter, from S$15.8 million the previous year.

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“It is encouraging to see broadband starting to cushion the impact of the decline in our basic cable TV business,” said Brian McKinley, chief executive officer of the trustee-manager.

The growth in total revenue in constant Taiwan dollars for two consecutive quarters reflected higher contributions from APTT’s broadband segment, he noted.

The trustee-manager expects subscriptions for premium digital cable TV and broadband to continue increasing, while basic cable TV subscriptions are expected to plateau due to Taiwan’s saturated market.

Units of APTT ended 1.8 per cent or S$0.002 lower at S$0.107 on Thursday.