Strong pick-up in 2Q. MPR's 1HFY12 earnings of RM78m were down marginally by 2% and below both our and consensus. On a quarterly basis, it saw commendable growth of 34% and 174% in revenue and core earnings, which expanded to RM448m and RM57m respectively, due to the lower base in 1Q (1Q is typically the slowest quarter owing to seasonal factors as well as advertisers' tendency to adopt a wait-and-see attitude before finalizing their advertising budgets). The group's most profitable FTA TV division, meanwhile, saw a respectable 58% surge in revenue q-o-q and 6% growth y-o-y. The printing segment, its largest revenue contributor, posted healthy revenue and profit growth of 20% and 32% respectively q-o-q

In the pink of health. Besides the strong growth in its FTA TV and printing segments propelled by high viewership, especially for TV3 and TV9 ' which remained the leading market segment ' and its flagship publication, Harian Metro (+14% adex y-o-y, +30% adex q-o-q), all other media platforms in the group saw healthy growth. Revenue from its 3rd largest contributor, radio, grew by a robust 8% q-o-q and 9% y-o-y respectively. We attribute this to the robust growth in listenership of its radio channels, especially OneFM, which emerged as the no.2 radio channel behind Astro's MyFM, gaining ground at the expense of Star Publication's (NEUTRAL, FV RM3.46) 98.8FM for the 15-24 age category. MPR's outdoor media segment also registered healthy 3% q-o-q and 9% y-o-y revenue growth. The group is now the nation's largest outdoor media company with more than 8,000 sites nationwide and a lion's share of 44%. Management also said it has secured the advertising concession for the overhead walk-way linking KL Convention Centre to the Pavilion mall.