John Porter, CEO of Australian pay-TV platform Austar, said yesterday that 2009 would be “a challenging year for everyone” but added that the subscription TV business was “a marathon, not a sprint.”


In a statement accompanying Austar’s full year 2008 results, Porter said that “even if growth slows compared to 2008, we will continue to build our earnings for the years to come. One of our greatest opportunities is the depth of knowledge we hold about our market. We understand the challenges facing regional Australia, we understand the likes and dislikes of our customers. Through that deep understanding, we will continue to adjust our product, our promotions and our marketing to make sure that we still meet our earnings requirements but are as flexible as possible to meet the needs of existing and potential customers.”

Austar would still achieve double digit EBITDA growth in 2009, Porter asserted. EBITDA growth in 2008 stood at 20%, rising to A$209 million. That reflected, said the company, an 11% increase in revenue to A$632 million but only a 4% increase in poerating expenses to A$141 million. Profit was up 7% at A$114 million.

Porter said: “We believe that the key to success in this current environment is prudent investment in growth, while focusing on cost control and continual improvement in how we operate our business. EBITDA growth of 20 percent while keeping our operating cost increases to four percent is evidence of our ability to achieve operating leverage.”

Subscriber numbers rose by 51,484 to 720,270. Of these, 72,719 – 12% - take the MyStar PVR service which launched in February 2008, exceeding expectations.

© Rapid TV News 2009