ASTRO POSTS RM127MN PATAMI IN Q4FY22, +20% Q-O-Q

31

March

2022

ASTRO POSTS RM127MN PATAMI IN Q4FY22, 20% Q-O-Q

ADEX 56%, lifted by economic recovery and resumption of signature productions

Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad |Result highlights for the fourth quarter of the financial year ended 31 January2022 (Q4FY22) [All comparisons refer to the third quarter of FY22 (Q3FY22): quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) comparison, except as noted]:

PATAMI 20% q-o-q to RM127mn, after taking into account the impact of Cukai Makmur in FY22

Revenue 1% q-o-q to RM1.03bn

Adex 56%q-o-q to RM146mn

Fourth interim and final dividend of 1.5 sen and 0.75 sen per share respectively

Tun Zaki Azmi, Chairman of Astro, said: Astros Q4FY22results improved q-o-q on the back of economic recovery. However, consumer sentiment and spending power continued to be soft. The Group remained cash generative, cost disciplined and proactive in its capital management. The Board has declared a fourth interim dividend of 1.5 sen per share and proposed a final dividend of 0.75 sen per share, rewarding our shareholders with a full year dividend of 6.75 sen per share. This represents 76% of FY22 profits, over and above our dividend policy of paying out 75% of PATAMI.

Henry Tan, Group Chief Executive Officer of Astro said: In FY22, we executed our transformation plan and our streaming aggregation strategy to be MalaysiasNo.1 Entertainment Destination. The new Astro experience puts consumers at the heart of our business and offers better-value bundles in a single bill by providing the best global streaming services, in combination with our flagship shows and live sports seamlessly in one place. Customers are responding well to these new bundles, and we are ahead of expectations in terms of current subscribers migrating to the new packs and recontracting. We now offer three distinct services for Malaysians Astro; our premium Pay-TV brand, NJOI; our prepaid option and sooka; our standalone freemium streaming service catering to millennials with a mobile-first lifestyle.

We doubled our streaming services to six, with Netflix, Disney Hotstar and TVBAnywhere joining our existing Astro GO, HBO Go and iQIYI, with more to come in FY23, strengthening Astro as the go-to streaming destination for Malaysians. Netflix has been integrated directly onto Ultra and Ulti Boxes and Disney Hotstar will soon follow suit.

Over 550k homes are already on Ultra and Ulti Boxes,which run on both satellite and broadband. Meanwhile, Astro GO has 919k monthly active users with average weekly viewing time of 4 hours, while On Demand shows streamed grew 139% y-o-y to 530mn. NJOI Prepaid revenue increased by 17% y-o-y, driven by prepaid packs. In FY22, our broadband base increased by 58% y-o-y as more customers bundled broadband with content for convenience and value.

We are rolling out our own internet service, Astro Fibre to add value to our customers entertainment experience. It offers a one-stop connectivity and content solution with speeds from 50Mbps to 800Mbps together with mesh Wifi and Astros rich content from as low as RM129.99.

We are also rolling out Astros Addressable Advertising to make TV Advertising more effective with digital-style targeting capabilities across TV and streaming services. The service is already live for Video On Demand content on Astro GO, Ultra and Ulti Box; to be followed by Linear Channels across all boxes and Astro GO later this year.

Key Highlights

More Sports for Fans: 2022is a big sports year, with comprehensive coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar2022, Asian Games, SEA Games, F1, MotoGP, BWF, Grand Slams, ATP and many more in HD and 4K UHD

More Edgy Astro Originals to Thrill Fans: With the easing of restrictions, our productions are back with The Maid (Season2), The House (Season 7), One Cent Thief, Histeria and Liar coming soon. Key content highlights include:

o Gegar Vaganza S8 continued its reign as Malaysias No.1 entertainment show (2.5mn TV Viewership and 1.08mn OD views)

o Astro Originals series, Dukun Diva, reached 2.4mn TV viewers, recorded 645k OD views and generated strong buzz among the young and urban audiences with a social media reach of over 30mn

o Astro First remained the No.1 platform for local movies in FY22:

Penunggang Agama, the No.1 horror franchise in Malaysia with RM5mn collection

Kampong Pisang Berbuah Dua Kali achieved RM2mn collection within the first twenty days of release

sooka hit one million app downloads: Our streaming service for millennials, sooka, achieved new milestone of one million app downloads; and garnered 3.2mn users and 412mn minutes watched to date. sookas distribution has been expanded to include the Maxis TV platform, and it is now also available on the big screen through selected Smart TVs.

ADEX & Enterprise Recovery: Q4FY22Adex rose 56% q-o-q, buoyed by economic recovery and resumption of signature productions. Meanwhile, Enterprise saw signs of recovery with its customers increasing by 3% q-o-q as the economy started to reopen, albeit with many COVID-19 restrictions remaining in place for F&B Outlets and Hotels. Radex, TV Adex and Digital Adex share stood at 77%, 35% and 3% respectively. SYOK, strengthened by its 60 new online radio stations, grew its digital presence in the audio space and saw its podcast monthly listens increased by 39% y-o-y to 821k

Positive ESG Impact: Recognised by global ESG rating agency, Sustainalytics, as a Regional Top Performer in 2022, ranking amongst the Top 10% of all companies globally. We remain steadfast in our commitment to be the nations agent for positivity and voice for good through numerous environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives such as:

o Donated over RM200,000 to help flood victims, while staff contributed over 8,000 kg offood items and participated in flood relief works or

LINK:	https://corporate.astro.com.my/mediaroom-releases/astro-posts-rm127mn-...
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