Bangsar – Media Prima Berhad (“Media Prima” or the “Group”), Malaysia’s largest and fully-integrated media investment group, recorded Net Revenue of RM351 million and Profit After Tax (PAT) of RM27 million for the first quarter of 2014. Despite an increasingly competitive operating environment, Media Prima maintained a PAT margin of 8% as a result of the Group’s continuous effort to improve internal business processes thus enhancing overall efficiency and productivity.

The Group recorded a PATAMI of RM27 million in the first quarter of 2014 though revenue declined by 4% to RM351 million compared to RM365.8 million in the corresponding period of 2013. The slight decline in revenue and PAT is consistent with the seasonal trends of advertisement spending as the first quarter has traditionally been the weakest quarter for the industry as a whole.

Datuk Johan Jaaffar, Chairman of Media Prima Berhad said, “We had anticipated that the Group’s performance in the first quarter of 2014 would be impacted by the increasingly competitive operating environment and continued moderate consumer spending as indicated by the recent decline in MIER (Malaysian Institute of Economic Research) consumer sentiment index below the 100-point threshold.”

“Despite the challenges faced, we are confident of the Group’s ability to continuously identify and realise new investment opportunities to enhance Media Prima’s business activities and earnings potential,” he said.

The Group is cautiously optimistic that it would remain resilient and achieve continuous growth in 2014. Dato’ Amrin Awaluddin, Group Managing Director of Media Prima said, “The Group expects another challenging year in 2014 though we believe the impact will be cushioned by major sporting events like the World Cup, the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and Visit Malaysia Year. We are committed to creating significant value for all our stakeholders and will continue to invest in quality and relevant content and expanding our reach beyond traditional advertisers.”

“We are pleased with the improved performance compared to the corresponding period in 2013 recorded by Media Prima Television Networks, Radio Networks and Digital Media. This is the result of having top quality content which continues to attract consumers and advertisers alike,” he added.

Television Networks recorded RM148.8 million in net revenue for the first quarter of 2014 compared to RM139.3 million for the same quarter in 2013, an increase of 7%. Radio Networks recorded RM15.8 million in net revenue for the first quarter of 2014 compared to RM14.4 million for the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 10 percent.

Media Prima Digital recorded an increase of 36% or RM7.3 million for the first quarter of this year compared to RM5.4 million for the same period in 2013.

Media Prima also added that its shareholders had, at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on April 23, 2014, approved the payment of a final single-tier dividend of 5.0 sen per ordinary share for the financial year ended December 31, 2013 to be paid on June 27, 2014 to Depositors whose name appear in the Record of Depositors at the close of business on June 6, 2014.