Catcha Digital Berhad (Catcha Digital) reported RM6.96m in Revenue and RM1.57m in Profit Before Tax (PBT) on a consolidated basis, with iMedia Asia Sdn Bhd (iMedia) contributing RM6.96m in Revenue and RM2.09m in PBT.
For the first half of FY2023, Catcha Digital recorded RM9.88m in Revenue and RM2.29m in PBT. Alongside this, the Company also announces 3 digital media acquisitions and 1 potential digital media acquisition aimed at further strengthening its position in the industry.
The Company has exercised its call option on 29 August 2023 to acquire the remaining stake in 3 majority-owned subsidiaries of iMedia, namely Goody Technologies Sdn Bhd, Nara Media Sdn Bhd and Oh Media Sdn Bhd.
The audited combined profit after tax attributed to the non-controlling interest of these 3 subsidiaries in FY2022 was approximately RM887k, which will now be consolidated to the Company’s financial moving forward. As a reference, iMedia achieved RM6.39m in PATAMI in FY2022.
The total consideration for exercising the call option will be approximately RM4.76m in cash, payable over 2 equal tranches – once upon completion and another tranche 12 months after completion. The purchase consideration implies a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 5.4x based on FY2022 audited financials.
The 3 subsidiaries involved and the purchase considerations are as follows:
• RM2,928,000.00 to acquire the remaining stake of 40% in Goody Technologies Sdn Bhd;
• RM630,000.00 to acquire the remaining stake of 10% Nara Media Sdn Bhd; and
• RM1,200,000.00 to acquire the remaining stake of 20% Oh Media Sdn Bhd.
By acquiring the remaining stakes in these subsidiaries, the Company now owns 100% stake in three of its top-performing digital media platforms.
“We expect these acquisitions to contribute positively to our earnings and overall business in the future. As we continue our mission to build a leading profitable digital group in Southeast Asia, we will pursue investments and acquisition that are accretive to our Earnings Per Share. We showed profits in our first quarter as a public listed company, which we expect to grow going forward” says Patrick Grove (pic), Chairman of Catcha Digital.
The Company also announces that iMedia has signed a Letter of Intent on 29 August 2023 with the vendor of TR Media Bytes Sdn Bhd (TR Media), which owns and operates a fast-growing Malay language social news portal, The Reporter, to acquire 70% stake in the company for RM665k. This company is expected to be profitable going forward.
“With the addition of The Reporter to our network of digital media platform, we will strengthen our Malay language network, and offer a much more comprehensive advertising solution to all our clients. We are very excited to welcome the TR Media team to the Catcha Digital family and scale our business to the next level,” says Eric Tan, Chief Executive Officer of Catcha Digital.
“These strategic acquisitions mark a pivotal step forward in our journey to solidify our presence in the digital media landscape in Malaysia and reach greater heights. We are thrilled to have The Reporter to join the family as we continue to curate more compelling digital media solutions and drive exceptional value for all stakeholders,” says Voon Tze Khay, Chief Executive Officer of iMedia.
More recently on 31 July 2023, Catcha Digital announced the upliftment of its GN2 status after completing its Regularisation Plan. On 24 July 2023, the Company announced that it raised RM29.7 million from its Rights Issue exercise for business growth and expansion. On 6 July 2023, Catcha Digital launched a new business unit called “i-Gov” to accelerate The Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, specifically focused on working to develop technology solutions and software for the Malaysian government and the public sector.
