OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday
SOUTH African media holding group MIH Holdings has reported wider headline losses per share in the first half of the year due to higher development costs in its Internet and technology businesses.
The pay TV firm said headline losses per share rose to 74.81 cents in the six months to end-September from 39.10 cents a year ago.
But if exceptional items of R3.5bn, resulting mainly from the merger of OpenTV and Spyglass, were taken into account, earnings per share jumped to 728.56 cents from 398.84 cents.
The group – whose subsidiary MIH Limited owns 36.5% of interactive television software maker OpenTV – said it posted losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of R133m versus earnings of R29m in the same period last year.
OpenTV completed the purchase of US Internet consultant and software provider Spyglass Inc in July.
MIH shares lost more than 11% on disappointment over the results. MIH shares were trading off nine percent, or 220 cents, at R22.05, on thin volumes. The share had earlier hit a new 12-month low of R21.20.
First-half turnover rose to R2.58bn from R2.15bn mainly due to strong growth in its digital TV subscriber base and higher revenues from its technology and Internet operations. It said the digital subscriber base had risen to more than 980000 homes from 725000 in September 1999.
MIH Holdings is controlled by Naspers, one of South Africa’s biggest media groups. – Reuters