KUALA LUMPUR, September 20- Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s pre-tax profit increased to RM196.07 million for the second quarter ended July 31, 2014, from RM131.55 million in the same period a year ago.
Revenue also grew to RM1.35 billion from RM1.19 billion previously.
The satellite pay-TV service provider said the better performance was mainly due to the increase in subscription, advertising and other revenue of RM92.5 million, RM12.7 million and RM55.6 million, respectively.
“The increase in subscription revenue is attributed to a RM3.10 increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) for pay-TV residential subscribers and an increase in the number of pay-TV residential subscribers to 3.49 million from 3.36 million.
“The increase in other revenue is due to a rise in licensing income of RM45.6 million and sales of decoders for NJOI customers totalling RM8 million,” it said a filing to Bursa Malaysia.
Going forward, its Chief Executive Officer Datuk Rohana Rozhan said the new studio deal with NBC Universal, together with existing partnerships with Walt Disney, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate, were expected to further drive ARPU growth.
– BERNAMA
