Media Prima Berhad (“Media Prima” or the “Group”) today posted a profit after tax (“PAT”) of RM4.2 million for the three months ended 31 March 2021 (“1QFY21”), reversing a loss after tax (“LAT”) of RM30.0 million in the comparative quarter (“1QFY20”). The results mark the Group’s third consecutive profitable quarter and its first 1Q profit since 2016.

Group revenue increased by 7% to RM254.5 million in 1QFY21, against RM238.4 million in 1QFY20, backed by revenue growth from its Broadcasting, Home Shopping, and Digital Media segments.

In Broadcasting, the Group posted a PAT of RM10.7 million in 1QFY21, from losses of RM18.7 million in the comparative quarter last year. This was achieved on the back of a 16% revenue increase to RM92.5 million in 1QFY21 due to stronger advertising revenue in 1QFY21, driven by the success of the Group’s integrated sales business under Media Prima Omnia which was launched in April 2020.

In 1QFY21, the Group entered into a strategic collaboration with the Ministry of Education for Didik TV KPM which commenced in February 2021. This demonstrates the Group’s ability to leverage the strength of its broadcasting platforms and opens up more opportunities and innovation to collaborate with external parties given Media Prima’s extensive reach and its content production capabilities.

Its homeshopping segment, WOWSHOP, continued its sterling performance posting a PAT of RM2.5 million on the back of a 19% increase in 1QFY21 revenue against the corresponding quarter. In the three months under review, WOWSHOP registered over 171,000 new customers, bringing it to a total of over 2.6 million registered customers since its launch in 2016. Sales from its e-commerce and mobile commerce platforms have increased to over 60% of its total sales in 1QFY21.

Media Prima’s digital media arm, REV Media Group (“REV Media”), recorded a PAT of RM0.6 million in 1QFY21 reversing losses of RM0.07 million in 1QFY20. Revenue for this segment improved by 11% to RM19.3 million. REV Media stamped its position as Malaysia’s leading digital company winning two awards in 1QFY21 — the Digital Publishing Company of the Year at the d Awards 2021 while its esports portal MyGameOn won the Silver award for Kejohanan E-Sukan Kampus at the Marketing Excellence Awards.

In March 2021, Media Prima launched a new pay-per-view movie streaming service — tonton CINEMA — which synergises REV Media’s digital capabilities and the Groups vast library of popular local films.

tonton CINEMA is available on mobile devices, web, and SmartTV platforms. This is in-line with the Group’s strategy to expand its digital reach and to further promote the local creative industry to deliver original top-rated content.

Despite the continued challenges affecting the industry, the Group’s publishing segment (The New Straits Times Press and Print Towers) narrowed losses by 97% in 1QFY21 against the comparative quarter. The Group remains hopeful of recovery for this segment in the remaining quarters of 2021 as the economy begins to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Datuk Syed Hussian Aljunid, Group Chairman of Media Prima, said: “Our strong set of results in the last quarters mark a significant turnaround for the Group, especially when the Covid-19 pandemic and measures to prevent its spread have heavily impacted the economy and our industry in a number of ways. Our strategic actions to transform our business in 2020 have built a stronger foundation for us to not only confront the challenges better, but to achieve greater long-term growth. We are especially pleased with our 1QFY21 performance as 1Q is traditionally a tough quarter for the Group. We look forward to better days ahead with the ongoing vaccine rollout and while we are hopeful for corporate recovery, we will continue to keep a close watch on operational efficiencies.”

Rafiq Razali, Group Executive Director of Media Prima, said: “We began 2021 on a positive foot, recording the Group’s third consecutive profit while narrowing losses across some of our platforms. Revenue from advertising, newspaper printing and distribution, and content sales have improved, thanks to our team who demonstrated creativity, flexibility and resilience during an incredibly challenging period. The cost optimisation initiatives we undertook in 2020 allows us to operate at a more efficient level. Forging ahead, we will continue to unlock synergies across our businesses and find out-of-the-box ways to leverage the strengths of our media platforms to meet evolving consumer trends.”

“As we grow, Media Prima recognises that our responsibilities increase too. While we are making good progress in our financial performance, we still have a lot more to do in the areas of Sustainability, and how our businesses can positively contribute back to the environment and our communities. As Malaysia’s leading integrated media company, this will remain a top priority.”