KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (Astro) will undertake a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to strengthen its market position.
“Given the challenging overall economic landscape, Astro will be undertaking a VSS that will allow the Group to further simplify the organisation, enhance operational efficiency and reduce annual operating expenses," chief executive officer-designate Henry Tan said in a statement today.
The VSS exercise is offered purely on a voluntary basis.
He said with this exercise, the company will put in place measures to ensure that the customer experience will not be impacted.
The company has also put in place a transition programme that will provide the right support to employees who opt for the VSS including coaching and skills upgrading training programmes.
Henry further said Astro will continue to be proactive to reinvigorate the Group in order to strengthen its position in the market and to remain relevant in the years ahead.
“The media and entertainment industry is currently operating in an environment that is experiencing an unprecedented rate of disruption.
"Industry players are required to reinvent and adapt swiftly to remain relevant in this new reality," he said.
Astro announced its earnings results on Wednesday, emerging stronger in its third quarter (3Q) financial year (FY) 2019 with net profit of RM178.2 million, up 282.4 percent from the same quarter last year.
The robust profit growth was mainly due to lower content cost following the 2018 FIFA World Cup and on-going renegotiations with international content providers as well as lower impairment of receivables.
Meanwhile, revenue resumed its gradual decline on lower pay TV subscription revenue, albeit partially offset by a recovery in adex and continued traction at Go Shop – the group’s home shopping business.
Positively, pay TV average revenue per user (ARPU) held steady at RM99.90 per month.