KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 ― Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has posted a net loss of RM11.05 million in its second quarter that ended on June 30, from a net profit of RM1.92 million a year ago, The Star daily reported today.

The report stated that revenue for the Umno-controlled publishing house was lower at RM74.4 million from RM96.1 million last year.

Utusan Melayu's half-year net loss widened to RM30.9 million from RM6.9 million last year while its revenue fell from RM172.1 million in 2013 to RM139.9 million this year.

The company stated that revenue for publishing, distribution and advertisement segments fell by 22.5 per cent of RM20.6 million- which brought about a higher pre-tax loss of RM23.6 million against a pre-tax loss of RM11.6 million last year.

The company is also the publisher of Malay-language dailies Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo, weeklies Mingguan Malaysia, Kosmo Ahad, a Jawi-language weekly and magazines Wanita, Mastika, Hijab Fesyen, Ibu dan Anak, Insta, Saji, Infiniti, Harmoni, Al-Islam and URTV.

It told Bursa Malaysia that it expects the second half of the year to remain challenging in light of increasing competition for market share of advertising revenue.

“Nevertheless, we will continue with our newspaper content improvement strategies and offer creative packages for advertisements.

“Also, we will continue to adopt prudent cost-saving strategies in our business operations,” Utusan Melayu said in a statement.

The strategies include freezing recruitment of new staff as well as “aggressively monitoring” administrative, production and staff costs.