KUALA LUMPUR (May 29): Catcha Digital Bhd (KL:CATCHA) has signalled a more cautious outlook on acquisitions as global headwinds weigh on digital media and events industries.
The broader digital media sector has slowed in recent months with advertisers adopting a “wait-and-see” approach amid conflict in the Middle East, said Catcha Digital chief executive officer Eric Tan Leong Yit at an earnings briefing on Friday. The company, nevertheless, remains active on acquisitions, he noted.
“You will see more acquisitions coming from us … but we now want to make sure that all the companies that we buy get adjusted and integrated properly to the whole group as well,” said Tan.
Catcha Digital swung to a net loss of RM1.16 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026 (1QFY2026) mainly due to long-term incentive expenses that cost RM2.31 million. The business-to-business segment incurred a loss without any events revenue against fixed costs during the quarter.
Revenue, however, nearly tripled year-on-year to RM26.27 million thanks to digital media and newly-acquired businesses.
Political exposure
Tan acknowledged that potential election-related spending could provide incremental advertising revenue though the company remained focused on commercial clients.
The Keluar Sekejap Lagi joint venture, which features Khairy Jamaluddin as a co-founder, was designed to be a lifestyle-oriented platform rather than political, and will continue operating as such, he said.
Khairy’s political affiliations do not alter the editorial positioning of Keluar Sekejap Lagi, Tan stressed, amid news reports of his return to Umno in April.
“Actually whether or not they go back to Umno, it doesn’t really affect us because the original intention and the genesis of the whole business and editorial strategy have always been non-political,” Tan said. “And we have been diversifying away from relying on the two of them as well.”
While the former Umno Youth chief and member of Parliament for Rembau jumped at the opportunity, his Keluar Sekejap Lagi co-host Shahril Hamdan, a former information chief of Umno, has yet to rejoin the party.