KUALA LUMPUR: Media Prima Bhd, Malaysia’s leading fully-integrated media group, is optimistic that the business initiatives launched under its business transformation plan last year will be the catalyst for future growth.
Under the plan, the group’s revenue contributions from digital, non-traditional advertising and commerce had doubled for the first nine months of 2017 compared to the corresponding period of 2016.
Combined revenues from digital advertising, home shopping, e-commerce and subscription-based OTT service grew from RM50 million to RM123 million for the nine-month period.
Group chairman Tan Sri Ismee Ismail said Media Prima is committed to delivering value to its shareholders by capitalising on the increased demand for e-commerce and digital content among consumers.
“The group is continuously adapting to the increasingly challenging and competitive operating environment by executing its business transformation plan which focuses on delivering new revenue streams while implementing structural changes within the organisation to enhance efficiency.
“We believe the plan will enable Media Prima to improve our cost structures and create value in the short and medium terms,” he said.
Group managing director Datuk Kamal Khalid said the group had been implementing its new business initiatives and made key structural changes within the organisation that includes organisational restructuring, manpower rightsizing, reducing print manufacturing facilities while strategically investing in digital publishing capabilities through the strategic acquisition of Rev Asia in August this year.
“We have also ventured into new markets abroad which is another important component of our transformation plan. The group has extended our consumers services such as tonton into Singapore and Brunei while Primeworks Studios has been selling video content to global OTT providers such as Netflix and Iflix,” he said.
For the nine-month period, CJ Wow Shop contributed RM92.9 million in revenue.
The group plans to increase the home shopping segment’s exposure to further tap the nation’s growing home shopping/e-commerce markets.
Expansion by diversifying into more local product offerings is also on the cards.
The New Straits Times Press and Media Prima Radio Networks recorded over 100 per cent growth in digital revenue for year-to-date compared to the previous year.
Revenue for Media Prima’s consumer subscription-based services such as tonton increased 27 per cent while education portal FullAMark doubled its sales for the year.
Kamal said its reach had never been higher as audiences and advertisers move towards the digital content provided by its media platforms.
Media Prima’s Harian Metro portal, for instance, recorded 3.7 million unique visitors in August 2017 via mobile devices, the highest among all local news publications.
BH unique visitors stood at three million unique visitors while tonton currently has over seven million registered users.
With the inclusion of Rev Asia, its digital reach today stands as the third highest in Malaysia, behind only to Facebook and Google.
Kamal said while the revenue contributions from the new digital and commerce initiatives had yet to offset the decline in revenue by Media Prima’s traditional businesses, the group believes that it is a step in the right direction.
Media Prima‘s revenue for the nine months ended September 2017 eased eight per cent, due to lower advertising and newspaper sales as the shift to digital media among consumers continued.
Its net loss was RM284.9 million mainly due to the impairment of investment in an associate in June 2017 and Early Retirement Scheme (ERS) payment in August.
If the one-off impairment of investment in an associate and ERS payment were excluded, the group posted a lower net loss of RM90.2 million.
“We will continue to defend our leadership position in our traditional businesses. Our subsidiaries Big Tree Outdoor (BTO), Media Prima Radio Networks and Media Prima Digital, remained resilient, recording five per cent, two per cent and 41 per cent revenue growth respectively compared to the same period in 2016.
“BTO is expected to benefit from the rollout of new advertising assets along the Mass Rapid Transit line and the Light Rapid Transit line extensions. BTO will continue to be a strong contributor to the group’s revenue moving forward,” said Kamal.