ITV

Category: Multi System Operators

  • Topline improves for Hathway in Q1-2017, but bottomline impacted

    Topline improves for Hathway in Q1-2017, but bottomline impacted

    MUMBAI: The slow progress of DAS is continuing to prove painful for multisystem operator Hathway Cable & Datacom. Especially if one goes by the results it has reported for Q1 FY 2017 ended 30 June 2016.

    Ballooning pay channel costs of Rs 102.05 crore, service charges of Rs 34.59 crore, depreciation and amortization expenses of Rs 70.37 crore and higher employee benefit expenses of Rs 22.72 crore have resulted in it reporting an operating loss of Rs 25.88 crore. The comparative figures for the previous corresponding quarter were Rs 78.56 crore, Rs 25.94 crore, Rs 59.19 crore Rs17.60 crore had dragged its bottomline down to the tune of Rs 18.11 crore.

    Its topline, has however, shown some healthy improvement at Rs 301 crore in Q1 2017 as against Rs 257.44 crore in Q1 2016.

    Its finance costs seem to have risen too at Rs 29.75 crore as against Rs 21.36 crore in the previous corresponding quarter of FY 2016. The outcome: its net loss has shot up to Rs 52.86 crore as against Rs 36.99 crore.

    The company says that the hold up of the DAS Phase III rollout has impacted its monetization of the infrastructure investments it had made in some of the cities which came under those areas in preparation of the deadline of 31 December 2015.

    Hathway has also stated that it is facing resistance from cable operators who are refusing to sign inter-connect agreements despite orders from the Telecom Regulatory Authority to do so in notified cities.

    The company has got board approval to transfer its broadband business to a wholly owned subsidiary Hathway Broadband Pvt Ltd (HBPL) as of 1 April 2015. But this will be dependent on approval from the shareholders, and permission from the Bombay High Court and department of telecommunications (DoT). It says it has got approvals from the relevant stock exchanges, and it has approached the Bombay High Court.

    Until it gets the approval, Hathway Cable will continue to operate the broadband business on behalf of HBPL and will receive a payment of Rs 98.05 crore in cash but the amount will not be reflected in its financial statements, the company stated.

  • Topline improves for Hathway in Q1-2017, but bottomline impacted

    Topline improves for Hathway in Q1-2017, but bottomline impacted

    MUMBAI: The slow progress of DAS is continuing to prove painful for multisystem operator Hathway Cable & Datacom. Especially if one goes by the results it has reported for Q1 FY 2017 ended 30 June 2016.

    Ballooning pay channel costs of Rs 102.05 crore, service charges of Rs 34.59 crore, depreciation and amortization expenses of Rs 70.37 crore and higher employee benefit expenses of Rs 22.72 crore have resulted in it reporting an operating loss of Rs 25.88 crore. The comparative figures for the previous corresponding quarter were Rs 78.56 crore, Rs 25.94 crore, Rs 59.19 crore Rs17.60 crore had dragged its bottomline down to the tune of Rs 18.11 crore.

    Its topline, has however, shown some healthy improvement at Rs 301 crore in Q1 2017 as against Rs 257.44 crore in Q1 2016.

    Its finance costs seem to have risen too at Rs 29.75 crore as against Rs 21.36 crore in the previous corresponding quarter of FY 2016. The outcome: its net loss has shot up to Rs 52.86 crore as against Rs 36.99 crore.

    The company says that the hold up of the DAS Phase III rollout has impacted its monetization of the infrastructure investments it had made in some of the cities which came under those areas in preparation of the deadline of 31 December 2015.

    Hathway has also stated that it is facing resistance from cable operators who are refusing to sign inter-connect agreements despite orders from the Telecom Regulatory Authority to do so in notified cities.

    The company has got board approval to transfer its broadband business to a wholly owned subsidiary Hathway Broadband Pvt Ltd (HBPL) as of 1 April 2015. But this will be dependent on approval from the shareholders, and permission from the Bombay High Court and department of telecommunications (DoT). It says it has got approvals from the relevant stock exchanges, and it has approached the Bombay High Court.

    Until it gets the approval, Hathway Cable will continue to operate the broadband business on behalf of HBPL and will receive a payment of Rs 98.05 crore in cash but the amount will not be reflected in its financial statements, the company stated.

  • Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav

    Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav

    MUMBAI: DTH service providers have been providing spiritual services to their subscribers for quite some time now. As have cable operators and MSOs who switch on coverage of local poojas during religious festivals and periods.

    Now here is national cable TV MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom that is all set to launch a spiritual channel come1 September during the festival of Lord Ganesh which is predominantly celebrated in Maharashtra.

    Called Divine, it is to be available on channel 47 on its cable TV network nationally.

    Divine will to operate throughout the year and will be focused on broadcasting live events around religious festivals and on licensed content. Hathway has a bank of licensed spiritual content, which will form the major programming content post-Ganpati Utsav.

    “We have no restrictions on the kind of programmes we will telecast tomorrow ourselves. We intend to bring to viewers fine spiritual content,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom general manager- marketing & communications Akhil Rampal.

    Divine is launching around Ganpati Utsav, therefore initially it will have round the clock live coverage of pandals from Mumbai and outside. Live aartis and darshans are going to be part of the programming strategy.

    “We are attempting to re-brand spiritual content and innovate on how it conventionally is delivered to viewers,” adds Rampal.

    Though not many advertisers have yet signed on to advertise on the channel, at the time of writing, the idea is to reach out to the community of regional local advertisers which are already on the cable TV network.

    Hathway will be rolling out a campaign to push the channel around its launch. It hopes many viewers will tune in to listen to the shouts of Ganpati Bappa Morya.

    It’s over to the elephant God to oblige.

  • Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav

    Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav

    MUMBAI: DTH service providers have been providing spiritual services to their subscribers for quite some time now. As have cable operators and MSOs who switch on coverage of local poojas during religious festivals and periods.

    Now here is national cable TV MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom that is all set to launch a spiritual channel come1 September during the festival of Lord Ganesh which is predominantly celebrated in Maharashtra.

    Called Divine, it is to be available on channel 47 on its cable TV network nationally.

    Divine will to operate throughout the year and will be focused on broadcasting live events around religious festivals and on licensed content. Hathway has a bank of licensed spiritual content, which will form the major programming content post-Ganpati Utsav.

    “We have no restrictions on the kind of programmes we will telecast tomorrow ourselves. We intend to bring to viewers fine spiritual content,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom general manager- marketing & communications Akhil Rampal.

    Divine is launching around Ganpati Utsav, therefore initially it will have round the clock live coverage of pandals from Mumbai and outside. Live aartis and darshans are going to be part of the programming strategy.

    “We are attempting to re-brand spiritual content and innovate on how it conventionally is delivered to viewers,” adds Rampal.

    Though not many advertisers have yet signed on to advertise on the channel, at the time of writing, the idea is to reach out to the community of regional local advertisers which are already on the cable TV network.

    Hathway will be rolling out a campaign to push the channel around its launch. It hopes many viewers will tune in to listen to the shouts of Ganpati Bappa Morya.

    It’s over to the elephant God to oblige.

  • Siti Network looks to raise $100 million

    Siti Network looks to raise $100 million

    MUMBAI: Essel group multisystem operator (MSO) Siti Network has plans to raise $100 million through an issue of securities and/or equity related instruments.  The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that  it  needs the money to fund its operations. It has an ambitious plan to further expand its footprint in the cable TV  and broadband landscape in India as DAS progresses into its last phase.

    Siti Network said it had got an in-principle board approval to raise the money taking the equity or equity related instrument route through a qualified institutional placement (QIP)/external commercial borrowings (ECBs) with rights of conversion into equity shares, foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs),  American Depository Receipts (ADRs), global  depository receipts
    (GDRs) or any other securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity shares or securities linked to equity shares.

    The company’s board of directors approved the fund raising and other  proposals at its meeting held on 26 August. 

    Siti Network further stated that as per a family  arrangement  agreed between the  promoter  group, communication has been received from Dr Subhash Chandra, Jawahar Lal Goel, Laxmi Narain Goel and Ashok Kumar Goel to  declassify the three mentioned along with their respective family  members as promoters of the company in terms of Regulation 31A of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.

    The board decisions will take effect after necessary corporate and regulatory approvals are obtained.

    This is not first time that the company is raising funds. In October 2014, the company’s shareholders had approved raising up to $100 million by passing a special resolution through postal ballot.  However, against this, it made a QIP issue not exceeding Rs 250 crore; of which it received a subscription for Rs 221.11 crore at a price of Rs 35 per Re 1 share. 

    Then earlier this year, it received promoter funding to the tune of Rs  Rs 530 crore. Most of it was used to pare down its debt, while a minority portion was used for acquisition, including bigger stakes in associate companies and joint venture partners. 

    ALSO READ: 

    Siticable partners dittoTV; to push OTT to cable TV and broadband …

  • Siti Network looks to raise $100 million

    Siti Network looks to raise $100 million

    MUMBAI: Essel group multisystem operator (MSO) Siti Network has plans to raise $100 million through an issue of securities and/or equity related instruments.  The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that  it  needs the money to fund its operations. It has an ambitious plan to further expand its footprint in the cable TV  and broadband landscape in India as DAS progresses into its last phase.

    Siti Network said it had got an in-principle board approval to raise the money taking the equity or equity related instrument route through a qualified institutional placement (QIP)/external commercial borrowings (ECBs) with rights of conversion into equity shares, foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs),  American Depository Receipts (ADRs), global  depository receipts
    (GDRs) or any other securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity shares or securities linked to equity shares.

    The company’s board of directors approved the fund raising and other  proposals at its meeting held on 26 August. 

    Siti Network further stated that as per a family  arrangement  agreed between the  promoter  group, communication has been received from Dr Subhash Chandra, Jawahar Lal Goel, Laxmi Narain Goel and Ashok Kumar Goel to  declassify the three mentioned along with their respective family  members as promoters of the company in terms of Regulation 31A of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.

    The board decisions will take effect after necessary corporate and regulatory approvals are obtained.

    This is not first time that the company is raising funds. In October 2014, the company’s shareholders had approved raising up to $100 million by passing a special resolution through postal ballot.  However, against this, it made a QIP issue not exceeding Rs 250 crore; of which it received a subscription for Rs 221.11 crore at a price of Rs 35 per Re 1 share. 

    Then earlier this year, it received promoter funding to the tune of Rs  Rs 530 crore. Most of it was used to pare down its debt, while a minority portion was used for acquisition, including bigger stakes in associate companies and joint venture partners. 

    ALSO READ: 

    Siticable partners dittoTV; to push OTT to cable TV and broadband …

  • Siti Networks says price revision benefits will accrue in second half

    Siti Networks says price revision benefits will accrue in second half

    MUMBAI: DAS paralysis in phase III markets is having an impact on Siti Networks (Siti Cable) performance. This was revealed by CEO V. D. Wadhwa to CNBC TV18 today.

    Speaking to the business news channel, he said that Siti Networks target was to roll out an additional five million boxes in the ongoing year. But this would not be likely met as “Phase-III digitisation is currently on hold and because the matter is subjudice in Delhi High Court, so it has been delayed. So, it all depends on that, but we are hoping that if the matter gets decided by the court in the next one or two months, we should still be able to deliver our original target, otherwise there will be some shortfall.”

    Vadhwa informed CNBC TV18 that the company has set its sights on 250,000 broadband subscribers (currently 130,000) by March 2017 and around 200,000 plus subscribers for its 57 HD channel bouquet. The company had hoped to hit 300,000 HD subscribers but has had to scale back its numbers as the HD market “is not moving the way we expected the it to grow. We are carrying the inventory; we are carrying the content but we have pulled back on our HD subscriber numbers.”

    He pointed out the benefits of the price revision that company has resorted to will be felt in the second half of the year. “Earlier we were operating with four packages. Now we have reduced the packages and now total three package is there. Basic package and then the royal and magnum package. So, the price increase at the consumer level is in the range of weighted average, roughly Rs 40 increase in the prices and we are targeting that at least half of this should flow back to us. At least Rs 15-20 is what we are targeting that should flow back to the company. So it has just happened in the month of July. In some market it has been revised in the month of July. Balance, it is getting revised in the month of August itself.”

  • Siti Networks says price revision benefits will accrue in second half

    Siti Networks says price revision benefits will accrue in second half

    MUMBAI: DAS paralysis in phase III markets is having an impact on Siti Networks (Siti Cable) performance. This was revealed by CEO V. D. Wadhwa to CNBC TV18 today.

    Speaking to the business news channel, he said that Siti Networks target was to roll out an additional five million boxes in the ongoing year. But this would not be likely met as “Phase-III digitisation is currently on hold and because the matter is subjudice in Delhi High Court, so it has been delayed. So, it all depends on that, but we are hoping that if the matter gets decided by the court in the next one or two months, we should still be able to deliver our original target, otherwise there will be some shortfall.”

    Vadhwa informed CNBC TV18 that the company has set its sights on 250,000 broadband subscribers (currently 130,000) by March 2017 and around 200,000 plus subscribers for its 57 HD channel bouquet. The company had hoped to hit 300,000 HD subscribers but has had to scale back its numbers as the HD market “is not moving the way we expected the it to grow. We are carrying the inventory; we are carrying the content but we have pulled back on our HD subscriber numbers.”

    He pointed out the benefits of the price revision that company has resorted to will be felt in the second half of the year. “Earlier we were operating with four packages. Now we have reduced the packages and now total three package is there. Basic package and then the royal and magnum package. So, the price increase at the consumer level is in the range of weighted average, roughly Rs 40 increase in the prices and we are targeting that at least half of this should flow back to us. At least Rs 15-20 is what we are targeting that should flow back to the company. So it has just happened in the month of July. In some market it has been revised in the month of July. Balance, it is getting revised in the month of August itself.”

  • Hathway board clears GTPL IPO

    Hathway board clears GTPL IPO

    MUMBAI: Even as naysayers have been saying investor sentiment is pretty negative about the cable TV distribution sector in India, here is a company which is looking to swim against the tide. Cable TV and broadband internet services provider Hathway Cable & Datcom’s board today gave it the thumbs up to make an initial public offering for its subsidiary outfit GTPL Hathway.

    GTPL Hathway offers cable TV and broadband services in many cities in India among which figure Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

    The board gave approval to the IPO proposal which seeks to raise funds for GTPL through a fresh issue of equity shares while giving an option to existing GTPL shareholders to sell their holdings. Hathway holds around nine million shares in GTPL, according to a filing wih the Bombay stock exchange on Wednesday.

    The Hathway board also gave a go-ahead to the proposal to set up a committee to work on the various aspects of the proposed IPO including regulatory and shareholder approvals. Of course, all these proposals would be subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

    Hathway has 23 headends in 160 cities nationwide and its cable TV service subscriber base as on 31 March 2016 was 12.3 million with 10.6 million of them having migrated to digital cable TV. It had a broadband susbscriber base of 627,000 even as it passed 3.3 million homes. 2.4 million of the cable TV subscribers were in phase I areas; 4.2 million in phase II, while its phase III and IV universe was at 4.1 million.

  • Hathway board clears GTPL IPO

    Hathway board clears GTPL IPO

    MUMBAI: Even as naysayers have been saying investor sentiment is pretty negative about the cable TV distribution sector in India, here is a company which is looking to swim against the tide. Cable TV and broadband internet services provider Hathway Cable & Datcom’s board today gave it the thumbs up to make an initial public offering for its subsidiary outfit GTPL Hathway.

    GTPL Hathway offers cable TV and broadband services in many cities in India among which figure Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

    The board gave approval to the IPO proposal which seeks to raise funds for GTPL through a fresh issue of equity shares while giving an option to existing GTPL shareholders to sell their holdings. Hathway holds around nine million shares in GTPL, according to a filing wih the Bombay stock exchange on Wednesday.

    The Hathway board also gave a go-ahead to the proposal to set up a committee to work on the various aspects of the proposed IPO including regulatory and shareholder approvals. Of course, all these proposals would be subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

    Hathway has 23 headends in 160 cities nationwide and its cable TV service subscriber base as on 31 March 2016 was 12.3 million with 10.6 million of them having migrated to digital cable TV. It had a broadband susbscriber base of 627,000 even as it passed 3.3 million homes. 2.4 million of the cable TV subscribers were in phase I areas; 4.2 million in phase II, while its phase III and IV universe was at 4.1 million.