The Financial Health and Sustainability of News Agencies in ASEAN

Hau, Wei Yang (2026) The Financial Health and Sustainability of News Agencies in ASEAN. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

This study examines the financial health and sustainability of news agencies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by analysing how firm-level financial characteristics influence financial performance in the context of digital transformation that intensified from 2010 onwards. The study adopts a quantitative research design using secondary firm-level panel data from 96 news agencies across ten ASEAN countries, covering the period from 2010 and beyond, capturing both pre- and post-digitisation phases of the news media industry. Financial performance is measured using return on assets (ROA). Key explanatory variables include leverage, liquidity, operating efficiency, working capital indicators, revenue growth, and ownership concentration. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression models with time controls are employed, including pooled and country-specific estimations. The findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in the financial performance of ASEAN news agencies. Pooled regression models demonstrate limited explanatory power, suggesting that firm-level financial variables alone explain only a small share of overall performance variation across the region. In contrast, country-specific models show stronger explanatory capacity, particularly in more developed media markets. Operating efficiency consistently emerges as the most robust positive determinant of ROA, while higher leverage is generally associated with weaker financial performance. Liquidity plays a stabilising role, whereas ownership concentration and revenue growth exhibit limited or context-dependent effects. The analysis is restricted to surviving firms with available financial data and does not establish causal relationships. Cross-country differences in accounting practices may affect comparability. The results indicate that strengthening internal financial discipline and operational efficiency is more critical for long-term sustainability than ownership structure or short-term growth strategies in digitally disrupted media markets. This study provides rare firm-level empirical evidence on media sustainability in ASEAN by explicitly incorporating the digital transformation era, contributing to media economics through a longitudinal, accounting-based analysis of financial performance