Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad see its Profit after Tax and Minority Interests (PATAMI) increasing 24 per cent year-on-year to RM771 million for its financial year ending 31 January 2018.

In a statement today, the company said this was driven by higher Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) and forex gains.

Astro also saw its EBITDA increase 0.2 per cent y-o-y to RM5.53 billion, with Free Cash Flow (FCF) recorded at RM1.36 billion for the period.

“The media landscape is undergoing aggressive shift towards digitalisation. In FY18, we accelerated our transformation to complement and enhance our skills, agility and capabilities as a consumer and content company,” said Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Rohana Rozhan.

Rohana also added Astro continues to embark on its transformation to a digital and data-driven company while optimizing its media assets, achieving cost efficiencies and strengthening its vernacular verticals.

“Last year’s results were a culmination of this focus, delivering record profitability, even as revenue came under pressure given soft consumer sentiments and competitive headwinds,” she said.

The company also saw its total customers grow by 7 per cent y-o-y to 5.5 million and an increase in TV household reach from 71 per cent to 75 per cent, primarily driven by NJOI.

“Contrary to expectations in the era of cord-cutting, we are seeing deeper engagement with our customers across all our media assets; 23 million individuals in Astro households, 16.5 million radio listeners and 6.9 million average monthly unique visitors on Astro’s digital properties, said Rohana.

Astro also saw its total Adex grow 2 per cent y-o-y to RM722 million, against a backdrop of the total Adex in Malaysia declining 8 per cent for the same period.

For FY18, the company commands a share of 44 and 74 pe rcent share in TV Adex and Radex respectively.