KUALA LUMPUR: Astro logoPay-TV giant Astro has reported a four per cent increase in revenue for the first half of the financial year in what the company describes as a “challenging operating environment” in its home market of Malaysia.
Group revenue climbed to RM2.7 billion (US$630 million), a four per cent increase for the first six months of the financial year ending 31 January 2016.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), usually the fairest reflection of a company’s growth, was up seven per cent to RM962 million.
The company saw a one per cent fall in the take-up of HD, but all other key indicators were up, particularly Njoi, Astro’s free package, which was highlighted as a growth area by Astro’s COO Henry Tan in an interview with Mumbrella last month. That growth now means Astro has a household TV penetration of 65 per cent in Malaysia, up from 60 per cent a year earlier.
