The pay-television operator’s shares continued its downward spiral when it hit a new low of 13 sen after dropping 3.7% or half a sen, valuing the company at RM679 million. A total of 8.7 million shares were traded.
Net profit for the quarter ended July 31, 2025 (Q2 FY2026) fell 70% to RM16.39 million from RM54.71 million a year ago, weighed down by higher content costs and marketing expenses.
Quarterly revenue fell 13% year-on-year to RM683.21 million on lower sales of programming rights.
Astro’s fortunes have been waning in recent years after being buffeted by intense competition from over-the-top services such as Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar that pulled away its traditional subscribers.
Its subscriber base has also whittled away as subscribers opted for TV boxes or illicit streaming devices.
Legacy media companies such as Astro have also been hit by a huge drop in advertising expenditure as brands shift their spending to online and social media.
The extraordinary decline of the company founded by the late tycoon T Ananda Krishnan is reflected in its battered share price.
Year to date, it has fallen 43.5%, and 52% over the past year. Over the past five years, the shares have plummeted almost 84%.
Things may yet get worse for Astro. Hong Leong Investment Bank maintained its “sell” call and lowered its target price by 23% to 10 sen from 13 sen previously.
It also slashed its earnings forecasts by 78% for FY2026, FY2027 (60%) and FY2028 (42%).
“Astro continues to face mounting structural challenges amid cord-cutting behaviour and intensifying competition from OTT platforms,” it said in a note today.
Astro One strategy backfires?
HLIB noted the introduction of lower-priced bundles under Astro One to improve affordability has diluted average revenue per user to RM96.30, adding near-term pressure on revenue and profitability.
TA Securities said the pay-TV revamp under Astro One has not delivered the intended uplift in subscriptions.
“Instead, the strategy has triggered cannibalisation, with customers migrating to cheaper tiers, resulting in subscriber attrition and ARPU dilution. Consequently, revenue has declined.
“While management expects ARPU to stabilise, we note the lack of improvement in subscriber base and turn more cautious on the outlook until clearer signs of recovery emerge,” it said in a note today.
TA lowered its target price to 14.5 sen from 20 sen, and cut its earnings forecasts by 43% for FY2026, FY2027 (72.9%) and FY2028 (75.4%).