True Corporation Public Company Limited
Annual Registration Statements (Report Form 56-1)
subsidiary (See “Note 18: Investments in subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, net” of the FY2012 financial statements). • NIOGO excluding deferred income tax improved Y-on-Y to Baht 1.3 billion (from Baht 1.1 billion in 2011) as the increases in EBITDA and the lower income tax offset the impact from higher depreciation and the slight increase in interest expenses. TrueVisions • TrueVisions’ service revenue grew strongly 8.2 percent Y-on-Y to Baht 10.5 billion, driven mainly by the solid growth of advertising and music entertainment revenue (mainly from The Voice Thailand) while subscription revenue for the full year was relatively flat due mainly to the continued impacts from piracy during 1H12. • However, in 4Q12, subscription revenue picked up strongly QoQ, Y-on-Y after the successful rollout of the MPEG-4 broadcasting system in July 2012 which effectively eliminates unauthorized access to TrueVisions signal, encouraging legitimate subscription to TrueVisions services. • Advertising revenue grew 22.9 percent Y-on-Y to Baht 869 million from the expanding audience base and the number of channels. This, however, fell short of its Baht 1 billion target for 2012 as a result of competition in the free-to-air segment. Nevertheless, strategies such as increasing tie-in advertising in popular channels and outsourcing some ad sales function to experts will be keys to support ad revenue growth in 2013. • Cash opex rose 14.8 percent Y-on-Y to Baht 8.0 billion mainly from higher content cost (including the acquisition of UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights from Season 2012/13 until 2014/15) and increases in selling, advertising and publicity expenses. • EBITDA softened 12.1 percent Y-on-Y to Baht 2.0 billion as opex growth outpaced revenue growth. • Interest expenses lowered 15.4 percent Y-on-Y to Baht 793 million due partly to lower debt levels from the scheduled repayments. Meanwhile, in 4Q12, TrueVisions won a court case over TOT on the utilization of TOT’s transmission conduits. This allowed TrueVisions to reverse provisional interest expenses (totaling Baht 128 million) booked in the previous periods. • NIOGO excluding deferred income tax dropped Y-on-Y to a Baht 4 million loss from lower EBITDA and higher depreciation expenses • TrueVisions customer base expanded Y-on-Y to 2.04 million (from 1.64 million in 2011) with a strong pickup in premium subscription. Free-to-air customer base also expanded significantly supported by partnership with free-to-air operators (i.e., PSI). Meanwhile, ARPU (on the paying-subscriber base, which includes subscribers to the Standard
Part I
Financial Status and Performance
Topic 11 - Page 17