Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) booked earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of S$135.5 million for the year ended 31 Dec 2025, down 8.7% year-on-year, as continued growth in broadband only partly offset weaker cable-TV contributions and higher operating costs. Full-year revenue slipped 2.5% YoY to S$245.7 million.
Earnings per unit were not disclosed, but the trustee-manager declared a second-half distribution of 0.525 Singapore cent per unit, bringing the full-year payout to 1.05 cent – unchanged from 2024. The half-year distribution has a record date of 20 Mar 2026 and will be paid on 27 Mar 2026. For 2026, the board guided to a lower full-year distribution of 0.80 cent per unit, to be split evenly between September 2026 and March 2027.
By segment, basic cable-TV revenue fell 7.5% YoY to S$158.2 million as RGUs slipped to about 610,000 and ARPU eased to NT$411 per month amid competition from low-priced IPTV and online video services. Premium digital-TV revenue edged down 1.6% to S$9.9 million, while broadband revenue rose 9.4% to S$77.6 million on a net addition of roughly 36,000 subscribers during the year. Broadband now accounts for nearly one-third of group turnover; data backhaul represents about 4% of that figure.
Group operating expenses increased 6.4% to S$110.2 million, compressing the EBITDA margin to 55.2% from 58.9% a year earlier. Capital expenditure was cut by 20.7% to S$29.0 million, or 11.8% of revenue, in line with management’s target range of 10–15%.
Strategically, APTT raised about S$29 million (NT$700 million) via a 12.73% stake sale in subsidiary Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) to DaDa Broadband. Proceeds were used to repay onshore debt, contributing to total net debt reduction of S$76 million in 2025. Approximately 93% of onshore borrowings are now hedged at a fixed 1.54% TAIBOR rate through June 2028, leaving around 10% of total debt exposed to floating rates.
Chief executive officer Somnath Adak said the fourth-quarter pickup in broadband subscribers underpinned results and should “cushion the churn in basic cable-TV” going forward. He noted that cooperation with new strategic investor DaDa Broadband will focus on initiatives to unlock further growth, while cost controls and selective fibre investments will aim to protect margins. Management expects operating expenses in 2026 to remain broadly flat, though EBITDA is likely to stay under pressure due to persistent ARPU erosion in the saturated Taiwanese cable-TV market. Even so, the trustee-manager intends to trim a further S$43 million to S$63 million of net debt over 2026-2027 and maintains that operating cash flow will cover planned distributions and capital spending.