The Malaysian leading media group posted USD 12.3 million net profit in 2021, reversing 2020 net loss, and marking the conglomerate first full-year profit since 2018, informed the company on its year report. The group networks continue to lead the television local business.
Despite the challenges affecting the media industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Media Prima group revenue increased 8% to USD 26.22 million vs. USD 23.84 million in 2020, backed by stronger advertising revenue supported by the group’s sales arm, Media Prima Omnia.
Datuk Seri Dr Syed Hussian Aljunid,group chairman, explained: ‘2021 was an outstanding year for us at Media Prima. We are extremely proud of the progress we made as we exceeded many of our 2021 targets ahead of schedule. Despite the challenges affecting the media industry, magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic, our advertising revenue increased from last year led by our effective sales team under Omnia’.
He continued: ‘Our digital and commerce segments remained strong against greater competition and fast-changing media trends. All this fuels our confidence in Media Prima’s future and establishes a much-needed foundation to grow’. And remarked that the group ‘would challenge’ itself to go further in view of more economic sectors reopening in 2022, which gives it the potential to do so much more for its audiences and advertisers.
Group managing director Rafiq Razali underlined what went from a really challenging year turned into one of Media Prima’s best performances in the last six years: ‘We posted our first full-year profit since FY15 with the exception of FY18 which recorded a one-off gain from the sale of the group’s property assets’.
‘Our Q4 2021 results not only represent our sixth consecutive quarterly profit, but also our best quarterly normalised net profit since Q4 2015. On top of this, he added, Media Prima remained Malaysia’s number one choice for mobile content against bigger competitors. We are also pleased to see signs of recovery for our publishing business which is seeing an improvement in printing and distribution revenue. This is a huge achievement for us and we are extremely proud of the hard work of our team’, he concluded.
Media Prima said its stronger advertising revenue was backed by its broadcasting business which posted a 38 per cent revenue growth against the previous year. Content sales revenue tripled in FY21 against the previous year, underscoring the successful execution of our content distribution and programming strategy. As one of Malaysia’s largest content houses, Media Prima is poised to be the most strategic partner for existing and new over-the-top media players in the local market’, concluded the group spokenperson.
For 2022, the Malaysian media group will focus on ‘sustaining the momentum’ by accelerating revenue-generating initiatives for our advertising, digital and commerce businesses. It informed that it would continue to look out for more strategic collaborations to grow further, while elevating its competitive advantage.
Networks
Media Prima networks remained the most watched television network with its flagship channels TV3, TV9, 8TV and ntv7 capturing over 33.6% of Malaysia’s television audiences (Source: Nielsen Audience Measurement – Total Individuals, Malay 4+, Malay 4+ Astro subscribers and Chinese 4+ from January to December 2021).
TV3 dominated the Malay 4+ segment with a 31.8% audience share. The TV channel has 27% share among Malay 4+ Astro subscribers’ audience, while 8TV reaffirmed itself as the #1 Chinese-language station in Malaysia, dominating with a 40.6% of the Chinese 4+ segment.
