MEDIA Prima Bhd recorded a net loss of RM177.85 million for the financial year ended December 31, 2019 (FY19) against a net profit of RM58.62 million in financial year 2018.

Revenue declined by 7% to RM1.10 billion from RM1.18 billion previously, mainly from traditional revenue streams, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

It said lower advertising expenditure (adex) take-up in the free-to-air television segment led to the overall decrease in revenue by 8% while performance for publishing remained challenging as contribution from newspaper advertising and circulation recorded lower revenue by 16%.

“The home shopping business and the group’s digital arm, Rev Asia, continued its revenue growth, partially mitigating this decline,” it said.

It said the home shopping segment grew 9%, mainly contributed by greater exposure achieved through more hours dedicated for home shopping slots on NTV7 and Ch-9 compared with the corresponding financial year.

Meanwhile, it said digital media recorded an overall growth in revenue by 7% in FY19, excluding the shared service revenue, particularly for its media venture business revenue comprising licenced and exclusive reseller products.

On FY20, it said the group envisaged the operating environment to continue to be challenging.

“The digital disruption will continue to affect traditional media businesses but the group is better prepared now with its stronger presence in the digital sphere through its digital assets acquired and internally grown since 2016.

“The current global economic uncertainty and the Covid-19 outbreak will delay the recovery of the group but we are diligently working at new business opportunities, leveraging on its existing assets and reaching to meet stakeholder expectations of a resilient result for FY20,” it added. – Bernama, February 26, 2020.