DEPOK (eNBe Indonesia) - Visi Asia Media (VIVA), the parent of TVOne, recorded revenues of Rp1.69 trillion in 2022, declined 5.5% year on year, but huge loss on foreign exchange (forex) translation and substantially higher finance costs resulted in widened net loss last year.
VIVA suffered net loss of Rp1.7 trillion in 2022, compared to Rp883 billion loss in 2021, as forex loss soared to Rp657 billion from Rp53.8 billion only in 2021.
Interest and finance charges also jumped to Rp985.2 billion from Rp750 billion.
Noting that, VIVA’s liability reached Rp10.4 trillion as of December 2022, of which long term bank loan accounted for Rp3.77 trillion and taxes payable of Rp452 billion.
While VIVA’s assets reached Rp8.87 trillion. Then, the Company recorded negative equity or equity deficiency of Rp1.58 trillion throughout 2022, increased from Rp617.33 billion by end of 2021.
VIVA’s Managing Director Arief Yahya said previously that the digital business showed promising performance due to the distribution of ANTV and TvOne FTA content through various digital platforms–the 360 degree strategy.
Well, while revenues declined, total operating expenses was stagnant at Rp1.66 trillion, resulting in squeezed margins instead. Operating profit crashed to Rp40.5 billion only from Rp146.6 billion in 2021.
Something is clearly wrong in the company’s operations. Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN), parent company of RCTI and MNC TV, for example, recorded operating profit margin of over 20% last year.
Surya Citra Media (SCMA), parent of SCTV and Indosiar, also reported operating profit margin above 15% last year.
Poor performance might have alerted national banks, which were expected to provide Rp960 billion refinancing facility to VIVA as part of settlement with creditors.
Delay in the refinancing also caused postponement of rights issue at PT Intermedia Capital Tbk (MDIA), subsidiary of VIVA, which is immediate parent of ANTV.
Other than the private placement, VIVA is expected to offload 39% shares in MDIA, but this one has also been affected by the delay in refinancing.
MDIA was better, but both operations and bottomline weakened last year. Operating profit, for example, dropped significantly to Rp165.4 billion from Rp252.9 billion in 2021, while revenues declined to Rp1.27 trillion from Rp1.35 trillion.
MDIA then posted net profit of Rp31.7 billion, but slashed from Rp81.6 billion in 2021. Bear in mind, however, that the net profit was attributable to Rp466.8 billion of ‘interest income’, expanded from Rp350.4 billion in 2021.
This ‘interest income’, however, is only meaningful if parent company VIVA can really pay interest for the Rp5.28 trillion loans due.***
