Star Media Group blames revenue decline on economic uncertainties

Star Media Group has reported an overall revenue decline by 8.6% in its first quarter. Overall, revenue decline to RM198.73 million compared with RM217.43 million in the similar period last year.Print and digital registered a lower revenue of 12.7% due to economic uncertainties and poor consumer sentiment, said the company in a statement. This resulted in overall newspaper advertising expenditure (adex) falling by 12.3% in the first quarter.The radio broadcasting segment recorded a loss before tax of RM360,000 on a lower revenue of RM855,000, while the television channel segment registered a loss before tax of RM1.98 million on a decreased turnover of RM2.02 million.Its event, exhibition, interior and thematic segment however, saw its revenue rising to RM42.02 million compared with RM38.09 million in the first quarter of last year. It comprises of businesses carried out by Cityneon Holdings and i.Star Ideas Factory (Perfect Livin’).The overall decline came despite a 10.3% increase in revenue from its events, exhibition, interior and thematic segments.The media group attributed the performance of the segment largely to Cityneon’s Victory Hill Exhibitions (VHE), a company with global rights to produce, exhibit and market characters from The Avengers and Transformers series. With an ongoing show in Paris, VHE contributed to Cityneon and the segment’s performance. The increased top line significantly cut the losses from the event, exhibition, interior and thematic segment from RM5.29 million last year to RM1.76 million in the current quarter.Moving forward, the group is bracing itself for adex to be soft for the rest of the year amid a sluggish global economy and weak commodity prices.The group said: "It would continue to defend the print segment while building on other media platforms."