ASTRO MALAYSIA HOLDINGS BERHAD
(Incorporated in Malaysia)
(Company No. 201101004392 (932533-V))
QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED 30 APRIL 2020
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
7
PERIOD PERIOD
ENDED ENDED
30/4/2020 30/4/2019
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES RM’m RM’m
Profit before tax 96.8 226.5
Adjustments for:
Non-cash items^ 296.3 288.2
Interest expense 51.7 55.7
Interest income (7.2) (6.2)
Operating cash flows before changes in working capital 437.6 564.2
Changes in working capital 19.1 (165.6)
Cash flows from operations 456.7 398.6
Income tax paid (48.8) (43.3)
Interest received 1.2 2.3
Net cash flows generated from operating activities 409.1 357.6
Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad- Expecting Better Quarters Ahead Date: 19/06/2020
Source : PUBLIC BANK Stock : ASTRO Price Target : 1.55 | Price Call : BUY Last Price : 0.80 | Upside/Downside : +0.75 (93.75%)
Astro posted a 1QFY21 headline net profit of RM73.8m, down 57% YoY, mainly dragged by lower subscription and advertising revenue as well as higher finance cost and provision for doubtful debts. After adjusting for the unrealized forex loss of RM33m, The group’s 1QFY21 core net profit came in at RM107m. Results were below expectations, accounting for c.17% of full-year estimates. Following this set of results, we cut our earnings estimates by 12%-16% for FY21F-FY23F to account for lackluster adex and lower subscribers in light of the fragile underlying market conditions where consumer spending is expecting to be weak moving forward. Therefore, our DCF-based TP is revised downwards to RM1.55 (previously RM1.80). We maintain our Outperform call on Astro as the stock’s valuation looks undemanding given that Astro is currently trading at 10x forward PER, which is near -2SD of its 5-year average mean (figure 1). On a side note, Astro declared a first interim dividend of 1 sen.
1QFY21 revenue declined by 14.7% YoY mainly due to lower contribution from both TV and Radio segment. Pay TV ARPU declined from RM100.4 to RM99.1. TV segment revenue fell by 15.7% YoY as the group recorded lower subscription and advertising revenue. Meanwhile, Radio segment revenue dropped by 37.5% YoY due to lower client advertising expenditure. Home-shopping segment revenue grew by 14.1%, leveraging on the higher viewership recorded during MCO which saw the segment increasing its reach to 2.4m customers. Weaker core earnings. 1QFY21 core net profit fell by 42% YoY due to higher finance cost. EBITDA margin decreased by 4.5% to 31% due to higher operating expenses as a percentage of revenue (content cost, merchandise cost and staff cost) incurred in both TV and Radio segment. On a more positive note, Home-shopping segment turned EBITDA positive on the back of higher sales volume recorded due to higher viewership and festive spending. Future outlook. The unprecedented impact brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an exceptionally weak 1Q. However, we are of the view that earnings could see gradual recovery for the coming quarters as the economy reopens following a period of lockdown. Also, we expect a stronger 2H due to seasonality. We continue to favour the group for its rapid response in adapting to the new normal, on-going cost optimisation efforts and its ability to seize opportunities to create new revenue streams in its home-shopping, broadband, OTT and digital platforms.
Future outlook. The unprecedented impact brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an exceptionally weak 1Q. However, we are of the view that earnings could see gradual recovery for the coming quarters as the economy reopens following a period of lockdown. Also, we expect a stronger 2H due to seasonality. We continue to favour the group for its rapid response in adapting to the new normal, on-going cost optimisation efforts and its ability to seize opportunities to create new revenue streams in its home-shopping, broadband, OTT and digital platforms.
Analysis of Shareholdings
As at 1 June 2020
LIST OF 30 LARGEST SHAREHOLDERS
(Based on the Record of Depositors of the Company)
No. Name
No. of
shares held
% of
issued shares
1. Pantai Cahaya Bulan Ventures Sdn Bhd 1,077,735,927 20.67
2. All Asia Media Equities Ltd 1,013,297,290 19.43
3. East Asia Broadcast Network Systems N. V. 421,939,707 8.09
4. Citigroup Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd – Employees Provident Fund Board 329,708,800 6.32
5. Usaha Tegas Entertainment Systems Sdn Bhd 235,778,182 4.52
6. Amanahraya Trustees Berhad – Amanah Saham Bumiputera 172,737,400 3.31
7. Pacific Broadcast Systems N. V. 140,646,620 2.70
8. Berkat Nusantara Sdn Bhd 140,646,568 2.70
9. Home View Limited N. V. 140,646,568 2.70
10. Nusantara Cempaka Sdn Bhd 140,646,568 2.70
11. Nusantara Delima Sdn Bhd 140,646,568 2.70
12. Southpac Investments Limited N. V. 140,646,568 2.70
13. Amanahraya Trustees Berhad – Amanah Saham Malaysia 65,582,400 1.26
14. Amanahraya Trustees Berhad – Amanah Saham Malaysia 2 – Wawasan 50,703,900 0.97
15. Citigroup Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd – Employees Provident Fund Board (Affin-Hwg) 42,149,000 0.81
16. Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) 40,640,800 0.78
17. CIMB Group Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd – CIMB Bank Berhad (Edp 2) 38,050,500 0.73
18. Amanahraya Trustees Berhad – Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 27,726,900 0.53
19. Citigroup Nominees (Asing) Sdn Bhd – Exempt AN For Citibank New York (Norges Bank 14) 24,155,817 0.46
20. HSBC Nominees (Asing) Sdn Bhd – JPMCB NA For Vanguard Total International Stock Index
Fund
23,520,464 0.45
21. HSBC Nominees (Asing) Sdn Bhd – JPMCB NA For Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index
Fund
23,464,873 0.45
22. Mujur Sanjung Sdn Bhd 20,931,848 0.40
23. RHB Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd – OSK Capital Sdn Bhd For Yayasan Islam Terengganu 16,130,000 0.31
24. Mujur Nusantara Sdn Bhd 16,073,887 0.31
25. Sanjung Nusantara Sdn Bhd 14,734,417 0.28
26. Cimsec Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd – CIMB For Tiara Gateway Sdn Bhd (PB) 14,638,800 0.28
27. Ujud Cergas Sdn Bhd 13,394,899 0.26
28. Permodalan Nasional Berhad 12,478,600 0.24
29. HSBC Nominees (Asing) Sdn Bhd – JPMBL SA For Schroder International Selection Fund 12,333,500 0.24
30. Cimsec Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd – CIMB For Koo Kow Kiang@ Ko Keck Ting (PB) 11,185,000 0.21
TOTAL 4,562,972,371 87.51
The Group has been agile in adapting to the new normal, allowing us to deepen our engagement with our
customers, strengthen our value proposition and to seize opportunities for adjacencies in commerce, broadband,
digital and OTT. Astro will proactively pursue disciplined cost optimisation and active capital management to
further strengthen our financial position.
Astro valuations attractive as it seeks to raise subscribersWednesday, April 1st, 2020 at , Money | News
By ASILA JALIL / Pic BlOOMBERG
DEMAND for home entertainment during the Movement Control Order (MCO) could help drive Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s earnings with higher consumption of its contents and larger sales on its multitude of platforms such as NJOI, Astro Go and Go Shop.
Astro now allows existing subscribers to access a host of channels for free until April 14, as well as opens up some of its channels to non-subscribers.
There are currently about 50,000 customers who are not subscribers to Astro, but have signed up for free viewing on Astro Go since March 22, which shows a strong interest for Astro’s contents in a short time.
MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research (MIDF Research) expects the number to increase following the extension of the MCO until April 14, which could turn non-Astro customers into paying customers after MCO.
“Through our channel checks with management, the current purchases of NJOI contents are trending at 1.5 times to two times of normal run rates since MCO, which could possibly contribute positively to average revenue per user. A healthy traction is also seen at its Go Shop’s online purchases,” MIDF Research stated in a note recently.
Astro, in a release yesterday, stated its complimentary viewing for Astro and NJOI customers, as well as complimentary Astro GO access for all Malaysians, has led to television (TV) viewership increasing by 43%, while daily time spent rose 30% since the start of MCO. TV viewership for English movies and entertainment jumped over 200%.
All news channels registered a 71% rise in TV viewership, it said. In the first five days of MCO, 5.5 million Malaysians watched Astro Awani, while its website and app registered a 15% and 13% increase in unique visitors respectively. Astro GO was well-received by all Malaysians with over 78,000 new registrations. Kids shows also dominated viewership on Astro GO during this period.
MIDF Research is positive on Astro’s outlook as the media and entertainment services provider continues to show meaningful progress on its cost optimisation plan, while pursuing profitability through its various platforms.
MIDF Research also maintained its ‘Buy’ call on Astro with a lower revised target price of RM1.04 from RM1.84 previously.
“In terms of valuation, the stock appears to be attractive as it is currently trading at a 1.5 times standard deviation (SD) discount to its two- year historical average price-to- earnings (PE) ratio of 11.7 times.
“We expect this would increase monetisation opportunities for Astro’s pay-TV segment. Coupled with the appealing dividend yield of 10.8%, we are maintaining our ‘Buy’ recommendation on Astro,” said MIDF Research.
Public Investment Bank Bhd maintained its ‘Outperform’ call on Astro with a revised target price of RM1.80 from RM2 previously.
Given that Astro’s share price has fallen by 39% in the past 30 trading days, the research house opined the stock’s valuation looks appealing, trading at seven times forward PE ratio which is below its -3SD of five- year average.
“We adjusted down our financial year 2021-2022 forecast (FY21-22F) earnings by 6%-16% as we incorporate lower TV subscription revenue and higher content cost for FY22F given both the major sporting events (UEFA Euro and Olympics) have been postponed to 2021,” it added.
The investment bank likes Astro for its ongoing cost optimisation efforts and ability to leverage exist- ing customer base to build new revenue adjacencies on its various platforms.
“The group remains committed to expanding its existing content library (local vernacular and international contents) to further strengthen its position as Malaysia’s entertainment destination of choice,” it said.
Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s shares, which closed at 83.5 sen last Wednesday, have lost just over one-third of their value since the start of the year. This level is not much higher than the recent all-time low of 69 sen reached in mid-March.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which began picking up Astro shares in late May when the price dipped below RM1, continued to buy shares of the dominant pay-TV provider from the open market. Filings show that the EPF purchased 42.2 million shares or a 0.81% stake over the past six weeks to raise its holding to 8.07% as at July 3.
Astro trimmed its dividend to one sen per share when announcing results for its first quarter ended April 30, 2020. With the company choosing to conserve liquidity in light of the pandemic, the latest quarterly dividend is lower than the two sen per share declared for the first three quarters in the previous fiscal year and the 1.5 sen announced for the fourth quarter last year.
With its share price at 83.5 sen, however, Astro needs to pay a dividend of only 3.4 sen per share for the yield to be 4%, and 4.2 sen per share for it to be above 5%, back-of-the-envelope calculations show.
AMSTERDAM (BLOOMBERG) - European regulators could approve the first vaccine against Covid-19 this year, after a flurry of trials by drugmakers leading the race showed promising results.
"We are preparing ourselves for that possibility so that we as regulators will be ready," Mr Marco Cavaleri, head of anti-infectives and vaccines at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said in an interview on Tuesday (July 21).
"It will be a matter of seeing whether this data could be sufficient for allowing any kind of approval by the end of 2020."
The billionaire heir who became a monk – why the son of Malaysia’s third-richest man, Ananda Krishnan, renounced luxury and fortune for spiritual peace
Naressa Khan
1 day ago
Would you give up billions for a life of spiritual servitude? Ananda Krishnan’s son did. Photo: Getty Images
Would you give up a fortune to become richer in other more profound ways? Ven Ajahn Siripanyo did. The Thai-Malaysian Buddhist monk dedicates his life to spiritual servitude, leaving behind a world of riches and spoils.
But just how much wealth has Siripanyo given up? A lot, as it turns out: he is, after all, the son of Malaysia's third richest man, self-made billionaire Ananda Krishnan, who's worth more than US$5 billion.
If Siripanyo intends to remain as hidden as possible, it's working. It's been remarkably challenging to find traces of his life before becoming a monk. But with some digging work, we've unearthed five things to know about this modern-day Siddhartha.
He has been a monk since 18
Siripanyo found his spiritual path in Buddhism quite early in life.
Believe it or not, it was purely by accident. When visiting Thailand to pay homage to his Thai mother's family, the then-18-year-old Siripanyo decided to temporarily ordain at a retreat for fun. Little did he know that the experience would extend to become a permanent way of life. More than twenty years later, he is now a forest monk and the appointed abbot of the Dtao Dum Monastery located somewhere on the Thailand-Myanmar border.
He has royal blood
Siripanyo has royal lineage through his mother. The world knows little about her identity, but research has pointed to Momwajarongse Suprinda Chakraban, a descendant of the Thai royal family. So technically, Siripanyo can be considered a blue-blooded noble, on top of a billionaire's son!
He grew up in the UK
Not much about Siripanyo's childhood is known, other than the fact that he grew up in London and studied in the UK along with his two sisters. But some sources have described his outlook in life as being open to different cultures, so it's not surprising that he has a well-informed, easily understandable approach to Buddhist teachings.
He speaks 8 languages
Video player from: YouTube (Privacy Policy, Terms)
We wouldn't expect any less of a linguistic feat from someone who has a culturally diverse affluent background. Again, because of the privacy surrounding Siripanyo's personal life, no one knows precisely which languages he speaks with fluency. But English is one of them, while Tamil and Thai are highly likely.
He embraces his old life occasionally
Sure, Siripanyo may be a monk living through the generosity of others day-to-day, but that does not stop him from accepting opulence where it is necessary. Since one of the precepts of Buddhism is familial love, he makes time to see his father now and then, and this requires returning to his old lifestyle temporarily. Case in point: he was once spotted travelling on a private jet to meet Krishnan in Italy. Another time, he attended a spiritual retreat in Penang Hill, which his dad went on to buy for his son's convenience. Talk about being blessed!
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
The billionaire heir who became a monk – why the son of Malaysia’s third-richest man, Ananda Krishnan, renounced luxury and fortune for spiritual peace
Naressa Khan
Would you give up billions for a life of spiritual servitude? Ananda Krishnan’s son did. Photo: Getty Images
Would you give up a fortune to become richer in other more profound ways? Ven Ajahn Siripanyo did. The Thai-Malaysian Buddhist monk dedicates his life to spiritual servitude, leaving behind a world of riches and spoils.
But just how much wealth has Siripanyo given up? A lot, as it turns out: he is, after all, the son of Malaysia's third richest man, self-made billionaire Ananda Krishnan, who's worth more than US$5 billion.
If Siripanyo intends to remain as hidden as possible, it's working. It's been remarkably challenging to find traces of his life before becoming a monk. But with some digging work, we've unearthed five things to know about this modern-day Siddhartha.
He has been a monk since 18
Siripanyo found his spiritual path in Buddhism quite early in life.
Believe it or not, it was purely by accident. When visiting Thailand to pay homage to his Thai mother's family, the then-18-year-old Siripanyo decided to temporarily ordain at a retreat for fun. Little did he know that the experience would extend to become a permanent way of life. More than twenty years later, he is now a forest monk and the appointed abbot of the Dtao Dum Monastery located somewhere on the Thailand-Myanmar border.
He has royal blood
Siripanyo has royal lineage through his mother. The world knows little about her identity, but research has pointed to Momwajarongse Suprinda Chakraban, a descendant of the Thai royal family. So technically, Siripanyo can be considered a blue-blooded noble, on top of a billionaire's son!
He grew up in the UK
Not much about Siripanyo's childhood is known, other than the fact that he grew up in London and studied in the UK along with his two sisters. But some sources have described his outlook in life as being open to different cultures, so it's not surprising that he has a well-informed, easily understandable approach to Buddhist teachings.
He speaks 8 languages
We wouldn't expect any less of a linguistic feat from someone who has a culturally diverse affluent background. Again, because of the privacy surrounding Siripanyo's personal life, no one knows precisely which languages he speaks with fluency. But English is one of them, while Tamil and Thai are highly likely.
He embraces his old life occasionally
Sure, Siripanyo may be a monk living through the generosity of others day-to-day, but that does not stop him from accepting opulence where it is necessary. Since one of the precepts of Buddhism is familial love, he makes time to see his father now and then, and this requires returning to his old lifestyle temporarily. Case in point: he was once spotted travelling on a private jet to meet Krishnan in Italy. Another time, he attended a spiritual retreat in Penang Hill, which his dad went on to buy for his son's convenience. Talk about being blessed!
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Astro and Maxis to merge? Makes sense say analysts | Marketing Magazine Asia
A merger will lead to an entity with a market capitalisation of RM53 billion (versus Maxis' RM44 billion) with a combined net profit of RM2. ... However, Astro's higher FY18F net debt/Ebitda of 1.7 times will cause the merged entity's to rise slightly from 1.3 times to 1.4 times.
Astro and Maxis to merge? Makes sense say analysts | Marketing Magazine Asia
A merger will lead to an entity with a market capitalisation of RM53 billion (versus Maxis' RM44 billion) with a combined net profit of RM2. ... However, Astro's higher FY18F net debt/Ebitda of 1.7 times will cause the merged entity's to rise slightly from 1.3 times to 1.4 times.
Entertainment: ViacomCBS Networks International Collaborates with ...
7 Jan 2020 · Customers can also stream Comedy Central on Astro's ... says, “We are delighted to expand our partnership with Astro to ... of Diplomatic Relations between The Philippines and China.
Ananda, Khazanah Nasional and bumiputra foundations collectively own 70.7% equity in Astro. Ananda, Astro's largest shareholder, bought 16.1 million Astro shares since June this year, thereby increasing his shareholding in Astro to 41.2%.Nov 2, 2018
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
Good123
26,596 posts
Posted by Good123 > 2020-07-21 10:48 | Report Abuse
strongly believe in EPF , remember EPF dumped AirAsia before march or MCO starts. epf might know something in advance that ordinary people tak tau