Pay-TV provider Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd announced that it will close down its home shopping business under “Go Shop” from Oct 11, citing “challenging overall economic landscape and the changes in consumer shopping behaviour”.
“There has been a significant downturn in this mode of shopping since the Covid-19 pandemic and closure will ensure that Astro Malaysia’s resources are focused on business lines that contribute the biggest difference to the overall operations,” Astro Malaysia said in a statement on Monday.
The organisation and its Korean joint venture partner GS Retail Co Ltd (GSR) have instructed Astro GS Shop Sdn Bhd (AGSS), which operates the home shopping business under the brand name “Go Shop,” to cease operations as of October 11.
AGSS is a 60:40 joint venture between GSR and Astro Retail Ventures Sdn Bhd (ARV), a completely owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia.
Both parties have decided to leave the firm as part of Astro Malaysia’s ongoing strategic realignment, which includes the implementation of considerable cost-saving measures, according to Astro Malaysia.
It stated that Go Shop is not a substantial subsidiary of the group and will not have a material impact on the group’s consolidated profits per share, net assets per share, or gearing for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2024 (FY2024).
Go Shop debuted in 2015 as Astro Malaysia’s first effort into e-commerce, allowing Malaysians to shop whenever and wherever they want, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In Singapore and Brunei, the home shopping platform was also accessible.
In the second quarter that ended on July 31, 2023 (2QFY2024), Astro Malaysia’s net profit fell by 75.98 percent to RM23.65 million from RM98.47 million a year earlier due to rising operating costs and unfavourable foreign exchange loss.
Astro Malaysia’s shares, which have down 30.77 percent year to date, decreased one sen or 2.17 percent to end at 45 sen on Monday, giving the company a market value of RM2.35 billion.