Astro caps off FY25 with content triumphs, quarterly ADEX rebound, and streaming momentum
Media Statement
25/03/2025
For the 12 months to January 2025 local content flourished on Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad.
KUALA LUMPUR: For the 12 months to January 2025 local content flourished on Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad, captivating audiences and accounting for 79% of total watch time, rising from 64% five years ago, strengthening its enduring bond with Malaysians and its role as the nation’s leading storyteller.
Iconic and unmatched for 11 years, our flagship signature programme, Gegar Vaganza S11 continued to captivate as the No.1 TV show in Malaysia. The reality singing competition has drawn over 8.8 million TV viewers while amassing 1 billion views on TikTok.
Where drama is concerned, all three of the year’s top TV dramas were Astro productions, with Andai Tiada Dia crowned the No.1 Malaysian drama of the year. The series pulled in 7.7 million TV viewers, who engaged with its gripping exploration of love, betrayal, and the fragile bonds of marriage.
Astro Originals also continued to perform strongly this quarter, with Project: Exit and Pasanga S2 garnering 1.7 million and 7.1 million streams on Astro platforms, respectively. Project: Exit, explored mental health and family conflicts, while Pasanga S2 built on the success of Malaysia’s longest-running and most-watched local Tamil series.
Our storytelling resonated beyond the confines of homes and gadget screens.
In 2024, our films pulled in a remarkable RM121 million at the box office, marking a 10% YoY growth, and strengthening our market share to 71%. We were involved in all of the Top 5 Malaysian movies in 2024.
Grossing RM60.5 million at the box office, the undisputed silver-screen champion in 2024 was Sheriff: Narko Integriti. The action thriller blockbuster surpassed Hollywood giants, outgrossing Deadpool & Wolverine and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Kahar: Kapla High Council, the highly anticipated prequel to Project High Council, wrapped up its cinematic runin early December with a strong RM13 million box office performance. Meanwhile, Takluk: Lahad Datu, inspired by the real-life Lahad Datu incursion, drew an impressive RM27 million.
Riding on the wave of box office success, Astro is setting the stage for something even bigger in 2025, the Keluang Man Cinematic Universe. This superhero saga will take flight in May 2025 with the premiere of Keluang Man. More than just an interwoven filmic odyssey, this ambitious endeavour marks a bold reimagining of Malaysia’s comic book legend, setting the stage for a homegrown cinematic universe that can
stand tall on the regional and global stage.
BUSINESSES AND ADEX
Our homegrown over-the-top (OTT) platform, sooka, is now on a winning streak and charted record growth in FY25. As the only standalone app in Malaysia offering live sports alongside a strong slate of Astro’s original local content, sooka has carved out a unique space in the market.
Monthly active users (MAU) climbed 13% YoY to 1.2 million, while the paying customer base doubled. Despite a sluggish OTT industry, sooka defied the odds with competitive pricing, longer-term passes, expanded digital payment options, and strategic partnerships with 20 top brands, including telcos, e-commerce giants, banks, and super apps.
data.AI now ranks sooka as Malaysia’s fastest-growing OTT platform, outpacing major competitors and cementing its position as a key player in the streaming landscape.
Elsewhere, driving forward our transformation plan, we launched Astro One in December, our three simple, new value-for-money Pay TV packs.
Starting at an attractive and affordable RM49.99, the packs each combine an increased amount of international, regional, vernacular and Malaysian content, plus popular streaming apps and broadband as flexible add-on options. The offerings represent a strategic move to grow our customer base while staying mindful of the financial pressures households experience today.
Our adjacent businesses continue to show strong momentum, with Enterprise revenue rising 10% in FY25. This growth is fueled by our flexible BIZone packs, catering to businesses of all sizes in a landmark year for sports. With UEFA Euro 2024, Copa America 2024, and the 2024 Paris Olympics drawing massive audiences, these marquee events captivated a combined 15.4 million viewers on Astro.
Likewise, despite intense competition and aggressive price cuts in the broadband market, Astro Fibre delivered 7% growth in its customer base in FY25, proving our ability to strengthen our foothold and deliver value-driven connectivity solution bundles.
As a result of the strong content slate and products, the company experienced a recovery of advertising expenditure (ADEX), rising 17% QoQ to RM93 million in Q4FY25. We saw a broadbased recovery of ADEX across all platforms, especially Digital (including addressable advertising) which grew 33% QoQ, reflecting our ability to adapt and create value for advertisers despite headwinds.
FINANCIALS
Amidst a tepid economic backdrop compounded by cautious consumer spending, Astro posted quarterly revenue of RM766 million (up 2% QoQ), EBITDA of RM171 million (up 9% QoQ) and PATAMI of RM11 million. Excluding unrealised forex gains from transponder lease liabilities, normalised PATAMI stood at RM13 million (up >100% QoQ).
For FY25, the company posted PATAMI of RM129 million and normalised PATAMI of RM66 million on a full-year basis. Furthermore, Astro remains cash accretive with a free cashflow of RM77 million for the quarter and RM509 million for FY25.
PIRACY MILESTONES
At Astro, every story we tell is a celebration of creativity and collaboration, but behind the screen lies an ecosystem of creators, talents, and businesses whose livelihoods depends on fair play.
From 2023 to January 2025, we had to remove a depressing 950K illegal links across websites, social media, mobile apps, and e-commerce platforms, including the shutdown of 327 Telegram groups with a combined 12 million subscribers.
Throughout FY25, our enforcement efforts resulted in over RM1 million in legal actions, spanning civil and criminal cases against piracy, illegal streaming, and non-compliant enterprises.
In January 2025, we won our second statutory damages award, worth RM175,000, from the Kuala Lumpur High Court after a local café was found guilty of copyright infringement through illegally streaming English Premier League matches.
Our advocacy efforts continue to drive meaningful conversations on content protection. We have consistently highlighted the risks of illegal streaming devices, and in line with broader industry concerns, the Communications and Multimedia (Amendments) Bill 2024 was passed in Parliament in December 2024. This bill introduces criminal penalties for fraudulent activities involving such devices and was gazetted in February 2025.
Additionally, Astro has also secured a seat in a high-level public-private task force, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, to explore the creation of a regional cybercrime entity, reinforcing cross-border action against digital piracy.
STEWARDING ESG
Astro’s commitment to ESG remains steadfast, earning us a place among the Top 1% of media companies globally, as ranked by FTSE Russell.
Through Astro Kem Badminton (AKB) and Klinik STL, we continue to nurture young sporting talent. AKB has trained over 21,300 children nationwide, including 40 national shuttlers, while Klinik STL, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Youth and Sports, focuses on grooming the next generation of sepak takraw athletes.
Building on this, we are expanding our grassroots efforts in FY26 with Klinik NSL, introducing four netball clinics in Klang Valley and Johor to develop emerging players.
When severe monsoon floods hit in late 2024, Astro stepped up our relief efforts, contributing RM1 million to the National Disaster Relief Fund. We also mobilised our platform to raise RM173,000 for flood victims and RM108,000 for humanitarian aid for Palestine.
In February, our philanthropic arm, Yayasan Astro Kasih, awarded 13 scholarships to deserving B40 students as part of its three-year ESG goals. A Career Engagement Session was also held for past recipients, offering insights into career pathways and professional development at Astro.
GCEO’s STATEMENT - EUAN DARYL SMITH
“As we close FY25, it’s clear that our transformation is underpinned by the strength of our content. Our compelling storytelling and local hits have not only deepened audience engagement but also resulted in some encouraging statistics.
We’ve been listening closely to what our customers want and reshaping our offerings to match, and the response has been positive to date. Pay TV gross customer additions are up 52% in FY25, our highest level in four years and marks the first time in over a decade that our Pay TV gross additions are trending up YoY. This contributed towards an 84% reduction in net video customer losses in FY25, a significant reversal that signals our strategies are starting to work.
A big part of this shift is Astro One, which we introduced in December 2024. It’s a fresh, simplified way to enjoy entertainment, with three great-value packs starting from under RM50.
These packs give customers access to up to 14 global streaming apps that are integrated into our U-Boxes. We are very pleased to be able to launch Amazon Prime next month, bundling the app in certain packs in order to add a lot of additional value but at no additional cost to our customers.
At the same time, I am pleased to see that sooka is now making waves as Malaysia’s fastestgrowing OTT platform, with its VIP paying base doubling and monthly active users topping 1 million, according to data.AI. While the overall OTT market has been muted in Malaysia, sooka has stood out by keeping its pricing competitive, offering flexible pass options, and delivering a strong mix of exclusive sports and local content.
To make streaming even more seamless, sooka recently introduced a refreshed interface that makes it easier for users to search, discover, and dive into their favorite content—anytime, anywhere.
We’re also seeing some traction again in advertising, particularly in digital. Brands continue to trust us to deliver high-impact, targeted solutions. And when it comes to content, we continue to set the bar; our cinematic productions are leading the local box office, reaffirming Astro’s role as the home of Malaysian storytelling.
Beyond content and streaming, our broadband and enterprise segments are gaining ground, supporting our drive for resilience and diversification.
Of course, global and local challenges remain acute for our industry, but we’re moving forwards regardless. Our focus remains sharp: (i) growing new customers, (ii) strengthening adjacent businesses, and (iii) reducing legacy costs. These pillars will guide us into FY26 as we continue shaping Astro into Malaysia’s No.1 entertainment and streaming destination.”
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