Film and concert producer mm2 Asia needs &ldquo concrete plans&rdquo to reduce gearing, as proposed initiatives to reduce debt have lapsed, says DBS Group Research analyst Ling Lee Keng.

 

&ldquo mm2 Asia had proposed several initiatives in the past to pare down its debt, but these have since lapsed. Previous proposals include spin-off and listing of cinemas, sale of cinemas, and merger of the cinema business with Golden Village cinemas in Singapore. The group continues to explore new avenues to pare down its debt,&rdquo writes Ling.

 

In a June 1 note, Ling is maintaining &ldquo hold&rdquo on mm2 Asia with a lower target price of 6 cents from 6.7 cents previously. The research house is also suspending coverage of mm2 Asia due to a &ldquo reallocation of resources&rdquo .

 

More concrete debt-paring plans need to be in place to ensure a turnaround, writes Ling. &ldquo With the reopening of the global economies, we can expect a strong recovery for the group&rsquo s projects, including content production and concerts. A key bright spot is the resumption of concert production, where its 39%-owned subsidiary UnUsUaL will be a key beneficiary.&rdquo

 

UnUsUaL was the first to present a large-scale, indoor live concert since the reopening, one by Taiwanese singer A-Lin, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 28.

 

FY2022 net loss misses expectations

 

mm2 Asia&rsquo s FY2022 net loss decreased to $35.8 million, an improvement from the $90.8 million loss in FY2021. That said, the figure is still below expectations, says Ling.

 

Revenue saw a 50% y-o-y increase to $113 million, driven by the further relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions in Singapore and Malaysia.

 

&ldquo Overall, FY2022 results were below expectations, as we were expecting the net loss to reduce further, to $17.4 million,&rdquo writes Ling.

 

Ling expects &ldquo strong recovery within 12 to 18 months&rdquo for mm2 Asia. &ldquo With the lifting of most restrictions from April 2022, business conditions are expected to improve going forward. For the cinema segment, with the release of more titles and consumers returning to the new normal, business has gradually picked up.&rdquo

 

Additionally, concert businesses in Singapore and Malaysia have been able to operate at full capacity since April 2022. Says Ling: &ldquo The group is seeing strong demand for regional content, global cinema box office recovery, as well as expected pent-up demand for concerts and events as restrictions ease.&rdquo

 

Recent fundraising

 

After a tough ride in the last two years, the group is beginning to see positive traction for its businesses as more markets emerge from the pandemic, says Ling.

 

To ride on this recovery path, mm2 conducted two fundraising exercises in the last two months, raising $25.5 million via the placement of new shares. The group placed 75 million new shares at $0.08 in March 2022, and another tranche of 390 million new shares at $0.05 to Singaporean businessmen Sam Goi and Oei Hong Leong in April 2022. In April 2021, the group raised $54.6 million via a rights issue of shares.

 

Writes Ling: &ldquo We project the group to register net loss of $13.4 million in FY2023F, compared to our earlier expectation of $7.8 million, on the back of the 30% cut in revenue projection, partly offset by higher gross margin assumptions of 24.5%, vs. 17.8% previously.&rdquo

 

mm2 Asia has posted a loss of $35.8 million for the FY2022 ended March, 60.6% narrower than the $90.8 million loss posted in the year before.

 

During the FY2022, revenue grew by 50.2% y-o-y to $113.0 million, as the group&rsquo s operations gradually recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. The higher revenue was also driven by the further relaxing of measures in Singapore and Malaysia.

 

The higher revenue stemmed from growth in revenue from production as well as higher distribution income following the gradual opening of cinemas in the group&rsquo s business markets.

 

Revenue from the post and digital content production segment increased by $0.9 million to $2.9 million in FY2022 as the projects completed within the period were of higher value. Revenue from the cinema segment increased by 85% y-o-y to $29.5 million as cinemas reopened in Singapore. The releases of Hollywood blockbuster movies also contributed to the group&rsquo s cinema revenue.

 

Revenue from the concert and event segment increased 167% y-o-y to $3.6 million due to higher promotion and production revenue in FY2022 as a result of gradual resumption of small-scale live performances in Singapore.

 

Revenue for the group&rsquo s other segments, which consists of media advertising activities, news agency activities, development of software for interactive digital media, brand consulting services, streaming digital films and short video contents and food & beverage business, grew 17.8% y-o-y to $4.5 million mainly due to the contributions from advertising and news agency activities.

 

In contrast, there is no revenue recorded in segment' s digital content production business as its live entertainment projects such as MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) were deferred by customers since 2021 due to restrictions implemented by the governments.

 

Gross profit surged by 199.4% y-o-y to $17.8 million mainly due to the contributions from the group&rsquo s core business and cinema segment.

 

In the FY2022, mm2 Asia&rsquo s gross profit margin doubled to 16% from the 8% in FY2021.

 

Other income fell 20.4% y-o-y to $10.9 million mainly due to the lower rental concessions income.

 

Other gains increased by 161.9% y-o-y to $5.4 million. These were attributable to the fair value gain in derivative financial instrument of $6.1 million and gain in re-measurement of convertible security of $1.1 million property plant and equipment (PPE) and inventories written off of $0.9 million and $0.8 million respectively and a recognition of allowance for expected credited losses of $3.1 million arising from core business and event segments.

 

Share of profits of associated company and joint venture increased by 5.7 times to $423,000, from $74,000 previously. This was mainly contributed from the concert and event segments' associated company, Isotope Productions, as the latter held a virtual concert in the current reporting year.

 

Net loss for the year fell by 57.7% y-o-y to $42.1 million from a net loss of $99.5 million in the year before.

 

Loss per share stood at 1.56 cents, up from 3.90 cents in the FY2021.

 

As at March 31, cash and cash equivalents stood at $13.6 million.

 

In its statement on May 31, the group says its business conditions have improved or been completely alleviated since April 2022.

 

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The cinema business has also picked up since Singapore&rsquo s return to the new normal since the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021.

 

Additionally, cinemas and concert businesses in Singapore and Malaysia have been able to operate at full capacity since April 2022.

 

In addition, the group is positive on the prospects of the &ldquo strong&rdquo Hollywood and Asian titles to be released in theatres in the coming months. This is in addition to the many international artistes organising concerts in their key markets which have been inactive since the beginning of the pandemic.

 

Furthermore, it expects its core content business to continue growing due to rising demand from existing and upcoming digital platforms launching in Asia, as well as from traditional media platforms that increasingly compete for viewers.

 

As cities return to business as usual, the increase in commuter travel is also expected to increase demand for the group&rsquo s short-form content businesses in the region and in North Asia, says the group.

 

&ldquo We have faced enormous challenges in the past two years since the Covid-19 pandemic began. However, the financial results show that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. Although we have been severely tested, we have demonstrated the sustainability of our businesses, as well as our standing as a major content and entertainment company in Asia. As the markets bounce back, we are poised to recover lost ground and continue to grow our businesses in the region,&rdquo says Melvin Ang, executive chairman, mm2 Asia.