FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Belt-tightening continues among advertisers

Belt-tightening continues among advertisers

THE BUSINESS performance of the media sector in the second quarter suggests that advertisers were still tightening their belts in the period, particularly in regard to spending via traditional media outlets, while new top-rated digital-TV channels and out

According to the latest data reported by media companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the financial results of print-based companies fell in line with the industry trend, particularly among newspaper and magazine publishers.
Though leading print-based media groups had diversified into broadcasting business with the aim of offsetting declining advertising revenue from their core business, their performance was still to show the full benefits of such a move, despite some degree of year-on-year improvement.
After being more aggressive in producing and supplying news programmes and documentary shows to the Voice TV and Channel 7 digital-TV channels, as well as to online platforms, Matichon Group said its financial loss in the quarter had improved from the same period last year.
However, the group reported that its revenue in the first half still suffered a year-on-year decline of 16.41 per cent to Bt545.27 million.
Nation Multimedia Group reported that its revenue from sales and services in the first half had decreased by 21 per cent compared to the same period last year, which it attributed to the domestic economic slowdown affecting its advertising revenue.
Meanwhile, Amarin Printing and Publishing’s revenue in the second quarter saw a 11.54-per-cent drop to Bt391.3 million, while net profit fell 53.71 per cent to Bt171 million.
Post Publishing’s revenue in the same period registered a decline of 15.3 per cent from Bt544.2 million in the second quarter last year, to Bt461 million.
For broadcasting business in the second quarter, some major digital-TV channels revealed that their financial results were better when compared to both the previous three months and the same period last year.
Workpoint Entertainment – the operator of Workpoint TV – posted impressive financial results.
The company reported an 18-per-cent increase in second-quarter revenue to Bt801.7 million, from Bt678.92 million in the same period last year, mainly driven by ad revenue from its digital-TV business.
The leading production house also posted a 31.71-per-cent surge in net profit to Bt133.89 million for the quarter.
The second-quarter performance of Mono Technology – the parent company of Mono 29 digital-TV channel – was also impressive, with year-on year income rising 25.18 per cent to Bt594.23 million.
BEC World – the parent of Channel 3, 3S and 3 Family digital-TV stations – said its advertising revenue from April to June was Bt3.32 billion, 7.4 per cent higher than in the previous quarter as the company had benefited from the high-season for the advertising industry, along with good momentum from its live coverage of the Uefa Euro 2016 football tournament.
Meanwhile, after its Channel 8 had fallen to sixth spot in the digital-TV rankings, RS’s revenue for the second quarter came in at Bt747.5 million, 10.3 per cent lower than in the same period last year, mainly due to a fall in revenue from satellite-TV business, music distribution and show business.
Though its digital-TV business and show-biz operations improved in the first half, GMM Grammy’s second-quarter revenue was still in negative territory, with a year-on-year drop of 18.4 per cent to Bt1.84 billion.
Turning to out-of-home media companies, VGI Global Media posted a 10-per-cent quarter-on-quarter increase in revenue in its first financial quarter from April to June, to Bt551 million – one month after its acquisition of a further stake in Master Ad.
Chief executive officer Surachet Bamrungsuk said the company had also enjoyed a 49-per-cent rise in net profit to Bt313 million compared to the January-March period.
VGI’s growth in the quarter was achieved following an expansion of the firm’s outdoor advertising coverage through an increase in its stake in Master Ad to 37.42 per cent, as well as an increase in the number of office towers covered to 142 from 103 in the previous year, he said.
The number of towers will rise further to 160 by the end of this year.
VGI’s rival, Plan B Media, posted a revenue increase of 8.4 per cent for the second quarter to Bt613.2 million, but there was a different story when it came to the business’s net profit, which fell 15.6 per cent to Bt110.6 million due to a fall in advertising utilisation rates amid higher operating costs.
 

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