ITV

Category: Financials

  • NDTV reports improved q-o-q results with lower loss, improves EBIDTA for Q2-2014

    NDTV reports improved q-o-q results with lower loss, improves EBIDTA for Q2-2014

    BENGALURU: New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) reported a lower consolidated net loss of Rs (-15.26) crore for Q2-2014, which was 57.5 per cent lower than the Rs (-24.04) crore for Q1-2014 (q-o-q), but about four per cent higher loss than the Rs (-14.68) crore the network reported for the corresponding quarter of last year (Q2-2013).

     

    However, it reported an improved EBIDTA of Rs 1.5 crore as compared to the Rs (-19.0) crore for Q2-2013. NDTV also reported a 19 per cent y-o-y growth for Q2-2014 at Rs 128 crore as compared to the Rs 108 crore for the same quarter.

     

    The Company has reported that it has sold its property in Noida for a sale consideration of Rs 30 crore. The gain of Rs 6.27 crore has been recognised in ‘Other Income’ in the standalone and consolidated financial statements recorded by the company. Consolidated other income for Q2-2014 at Rs 22.04 crore was almost quintuple the Rs 4.53 crore for Q2-2013 and the Rs 4.63 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Let us look at the other figures for Q2-2014 reported by NDTV

     

    Consolidated total income from operations for Q2-2014 at Rs 106.19 crore was 2.8 per cent higher than the Rs 103.33 crore for Q2-2013 and 3.7 per cent higher than the Rs 102.4 crore for Q1-2014. Revenue from NDTV’s television media related segment for Q2-2014 at Rs 107.42 crore was four per cent higher than the Rs 103.33 crore for Q2-2013 and 4.7 per cent higher than the Rs 102.59 crore for Q1-2014. Its retail/e-commerce segment clocked revue of Rs 0.52 crore for Q2-2014. (Intersegment revenue adjustment of Rs 1.75 crore resulted in consolidated income from operations of Rs 106.19 crore for Q2-2014).

     

    Consolidated total expense at Rs 133.58 crore for Q2-2014 was almost flat as compared to the Rs 133.67 crore for Q2-2013 and 6.2 per cent more than the Rs 125.75 for Q1-2014. Production expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 22.84 crore was 2.2 per cent higher than the Rs 22.34 crore for Q2-2013, but 5.5 per cent lower than the Rs 24.11 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    In Q2-2014, the company spent 18.6 per cent less on marketing, distribution and promotional at Rs 25.43 crore as compared to the Rs 31.25 crore for the corresponding quarter last year (Q2-2013), but 17.9 per cent more than the Rs 21.57 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Operating and administration expense at Rs 33.55 crore was 3.6 per cent higher than the Rs 32.39 crore for Q2-2013 and 17.4 per cent higher than the Rs 28.58 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Its employee cost at Rs 44.92 crore for Q2-2014 was 10.45 per cent higher than the Rs 40.67 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year (Q2-2013) and almost the same as the Rs 44.93 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    The company claims that total revenue from Hindi News grew 54 per cent y-o-y. Revenue of NDTV’s digital arm, NDTV Convergence, was up by 64 per cent y-o-y. NDTV claims that NDTV Convergence registered 500 crore (five billion) page views, on an annualised basis, across mobile and web and 200 crore (two billion) minutes of streamed videos. It further says that NDTV Gadgets has become India’s biggest gadget site. NDTV’s first e-commerce venture IndianRoots.com was successfully launched on 28 July and is showing healthy sales traction says the company.

  • Sun TV reports PAT of Rs 169.16 crore for Q2-2014; encores interim dividend

    Sun TV reports PAT of Rs 169.16 crore for Q2-2014; encores interim dividend

    BENGALURU: A media conglomerate with one of the largest Indian television networks, Sun TV Network Limited (Sun TV) reported a PAT of Rs 169.16 crore, up 11.5 per cent as compared to the PAT of Rs 151.65 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year (Q2-2013) and 2.9 per cent higher than the Rs 164.44 crore for the immediate preceding quarter, Q1-2014.

     

    Last quarter (Q1-2014), the board of directors of the company had declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.25 per share (45 per cent). This quarter the board has declared interim dividend of Rs 2.50 (50 per cent) per share of Rs 5 each.

     

    Let us look at the other Q2-2014 figures reported by Sun TV

     

    The company reported Rs 466.41 crore as income from operations for Q2-2014 up 7.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 433.34 crore for Q2-2013, and lower by 22.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 601.85 crore for Q1-2014. It must however be noted that Rs 98.54 crore revenue came from the company’s IPL franchisee Hyderabad Sunrisers in Q1-2013 as compared to the Rs 5.43 crore for Q2-2014.

     

    Sun TV reported a total turnover of Rs 504.21 crore for Q2-2013, up 13.8 per cent as compared to the Rs 44.95 crore for Q2-2013. The company had reported total turnover of Rs 615.24 crore including IPL Franchisee turnover for Q1-2014.

     

    Sun TV reported total expense of Rs 246.29 crore (NIL IPL franchisee fee) for Q2-2014, 12.9 per cent higher than the Rs 218.17 crore for Q2-2013, but 32.6 per cent lower than the Rs 365.59 crore (this includes IPL franchisee fee of Rs 85.05 crore) for Q1-2014. The expense of Rs 246.29 crore includes expense of Rs 8.51 crore of its Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team.

     

    Of the major expense heads, Sun TV has reported Rs 48.27 crore as employee benefit expense for Q2-2014, as compared to the Rs 42.89 crore for the corresponding quarter last year and the Rs 44.21 crore for Q1-2014. Other expenditure at Rs 36.51 crore was almost a third more (32 per cent more) than the Rs 27.66 crore for Q2-2013 and less than half (49.4 per cent of) the Rs 73.94 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    The company has not reported the breakup of its revenue and expense as has been its norm in the past.

  • Q2-2014: TV Today reports Rs 12.83 cr as compared to loss in Q2-2013

    Q2-2014: TV Today reports Rs 12.83 cr as compared to loss in Q2-2013

    BENGALURU: TV Today Network Limited (TV Today) reported a PAT of Rs 12.83 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to a loss of Rs (-9.15) crore in Q2-2013. PAT for Q2-2014 was 0.7 per cent higher than the Rs 11.98 crore for Q1-2014.

    Its radio segment reported improved performance with a 27 per cent lower segment loss of Rs (-2.02) crore for Q2-2014, as compared to the Rs (-2.76) crore for Q2-2013 and 13.3 per cent lower loss as compared to the loss of Rs (-2.33) crore for Q1-2014.

    Let us look at the other results for Q2-2014 filed by TV Today

    Presently, TV Today runs four 24 hours news and current affairs channels, namely Aaj Tak, Dilli Aaj Tak and Tez in Hindi and Headlines Today in English.

  • Q2-2014: TV Today reports Rs 12.83 cr as compared to loss in Q2-2013

    Q2-2014: TV Today reports Rs 12.83 cr as compared to loss in Q2-2013

    BENGALURU: TV Today Network Limited (TV Today) reported a PAT of Rs 12.83 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to a loss of Rs (-9.15) crore in Q2-2013. PAT for Q2-2014 was 0.7 per cent higher than the Rs 11.98 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Its radio segment reported improved performance with a 27 per cent lower segment loss of Rs (-2.02) crore for Q2-2014, as compared to the Rs (-2.76) crore for Q2-2013 and 13.3 per cent lower loss as compared to the loss of Rs (-2.33) crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Let us look at the other results for Q2-2014 filed by TV Today

     

    Presently, TV Today runs four 24 hours news and current affairs channels, namely Aaj Tak, Dilli Aaj Tak and Tez in Hindi and Headlines Today in English.

     

    TV Today reported total income from operations of Rs 91.71 crore for Q2-2014, 36 per cent higher than the Rs 67.31 crore for Q2-2013 and three per cent higher than the Rs 88.85 crore for the immediate preceding quarter Q1-2014.

     

    TV Today’s TV broadcasting segment income from operations for Q2-2014 at Rs 87.62 crore was more than a third higher (higher by 35.2 per cent) than the Rs 64.56 crore for Q2-2013 and almost flat (two per cent higher) than the Rs 85.89 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    TV Broadcasting segment reported a profit from operations of Rs 21.27 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to the loss of Rs (-3.19) crore for Q2-2013 and almost flat as compared to the Rs 21.18 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Its FM radio broadcasting segment reported a 54 per cent higher income from operations for Q2-2014 of Rs 4.08 crore as compared to the Rs 2.65 crore for Q2-2014 and 35 per cent higher than the Rs 3.02 crore for Q1-2014. As mentioned above, loss for Q2-2014 from FM radio broadcasting business was much lower as compared to y-o-y or q-o-q.

     

    Q2-2014 Total Expense at Rs 73.54 crore was almost flat as compared to the Rs 73.31 crore for Q2-2013 as well as the Rs 71.27 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Production cost for Q2-2014 at Rs 8.06 crore was 10.6 per cent lower than the Rs 9.02 crore for Q2-2013 and the Rs 9.03 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    The network spent about six per cent more in Q2-2014 towards Advertisement, Distribution and Sales Promotion expenses at Rs 22.93 crore as compared to the Rs 21.67 crore in Q2-2013 and 16.4 per cent higher than the Rs 19.7 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    The company says that it has made a strategic investment of Rs 45.52 crore in Mail Today Newspapers (Mail Today) for entering into print media. Though Mail Today is in the initial stages of operations and is presently incurring losses, the company is confident of its future and profitability and consequently of carrying value of the investment.

  • Encore! PVR repeats blockbuster results for Q2-2014

    Encore! PVR repeats blockbuster results for Q2-2014

    BENGALURU:  Indian motion picture exhibition, production and distribution house PVR Limited (PVR) repeated, actually bettered by far, its Q1-2014 stellar results during Q2-2014. PVR’s consolidated revenue for quarter ended 30 September 2013 stood at Rs 367.1 crore up 89 per cent as compared to Rs 193.6 crore during the corresponding period of last year and nine per cent more than PVR’s consolidated revenue for Q1-2014 which was Rs 337.3 crore.

     

    Consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 27.7 crore up by 71 per cent as against of Rs 16.1 crore in the September quarter last year (Q2-2013), and more than double the PAT of Rs 13.6 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    The company says that it has delivered a strong financial and operational performance in the quarter especially given that there were only two big releases – Chennai Express and Bhaag Milka Bhaag in the quarter as compared to five big films (Ek Tha Tiger, Barfi, Bol Bachan, Dark Knight  and Amazing Spiderman) a year-ago. The company also says that footfalls increased by eight per cent to 1.66 crore in the quarter while average ticket prices rose by four per cent as against same period last year.

     

    NOTE : (1) The board of directors in the meeting held on 15 June 2013, approved the composite scheme of amalgamation (Scheme) for the merger of Cine Hospitality Private Limited its wholly owned subsidiary and Cinemax India Limited along with its subsidiaries companies, namely , Nikmo Entertainment Limited, Odeon Shrine Multiplex Limited, Vista Entertainment Limited, Growel Entertainment Limited and Cinemax Motion Pictures Limited with the Company from the appointed date of 1st April 2013. As per the proposed Scheme, which is subject to approval of shareholders, creditors and regulatory authorities, the minority shareholders of Cinemax India Limited will receive equity shares of PVR Limited in the swap ratio of four equity shares of PVR Limited against seven equity shares of Cinemax India Limited. Further, SEBI, NSE & BSE have given their NOC in the current quarter and 7 December 2013 has been fixed by the Hon’ble High Court, New Delhi for holding the meeting of members and creditors of the Company.

     

    (2) The company in Oct 2013 entered into an agreement for sale of Anupam multiplex property located at Saket, New Delhi for a total consideration of Rs 52 crore. The sale and property is in line with company’s strategy to maintain an asset light business model.  The sale will release substantial capital to fund the future projects and enable the company to improve its Return on Capital Employed says PVR.1

     

    Let us look at the figures reported by PVR Limited for Q2-2014
    Exhibition Business

     

    PVR

    PVR’s standalone revenue of Rs 237.94 for Q2-2014 was 32 per cent more than the Rs 179.87 crore for Q2-2013 and 13.75 per cent more than the Rs 209.18 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 192.58 crore was 33 per cent more than the Rs 145.26 crore of Q2-2013 and 11 per cent more than the Rs 173.16 crore of Q1-2013.
    It’s EBIDTA for Q2-2014 at Rs 45.36 crore (Margin 19.1 per cent) as compared to the Rs 34.61 crore (Margin 19.2 per cent) for Q2-2013 and Rs 36.02 crore (Margin 17.2 per cent) for Q1-2014.111

     

    PVR’s standalone PAT for Q2-2014 at Rs 21.83 crore was 46 per cent more than the Rs 14.96 crore of Q2-2013 and more than a third (up 34 per cent) of the Rs 16.25 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    Cinemax

     

    Revenue for Q2-2014 from Cinemax at Rs 111.77 crore was five per cent lower than the Rs 117.44 crore for Q2-2013 and three per cent more than the Rs 108.62 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 84.43 crore was three per cent lower than the Rs 87.15 crore of Q2-2013 and 1.3 per cent lower than the Rs 85.52 crore of Q1-2014.
    EBIDTA for Q2-2014 was Rs 27.34 crore (24.5 per cent); for Q2-2013 – Rs 30.9 crore (25.8 per cent) and Rs 23.09 crore (21.3 per cent) for Q1-2014.

     

    Q2-2014 PAT at Rs 13.08 crore was 17 per cent lower than the Rs 15.81 crore of Q2-2013, but over 2 and half times (2.52 times) of the Rs 5.19 crore of Q1-2014.
    PVR says that Cinemax ATP was flat on account of harmonising of ticket pricing on weekdays and weekends in accordance with PVR pricing strategy and tax free Marathi films played in the western circuit.

     

    Food and beverage revenues grew by 25 per cent over corresponding quarter of previous year on account of success of the various strategic initiatives taken by the company. A 42 per cent growth in Sponsorship revenues reflected strong continuing positive performance year on year.

     

    PVR chairman cum MD Ajay Bijli said, “The strength of the film line up for the second half coupled with our solid first six months performance underpins our confidence that we are on track with our plans for the full year. We have maintained the position as the leading multiplex player in India and in this quarter we will surpass an important milestone of 400 screens in India.”

  • Discovery Q3 results buoyed by international revenues

    Discovery Q3 results buoyed by international revenues

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications President/CEO David Zaslaw has been quite clear about what’s going to drive revenues at the company: international expansion. He has stated that more than once and he did so at the industry’s leading get together MipTV in Cannes in 2013. If one goes by the financials for the broadcaster for the third quarter ended 30 September 2013, he seems to be living up to that statement.

     

    Discovery Communications’ international betworks’ revenues climbed 59 per cent to $ 620 million, as advertising revenues were up 127 per cent to $282 million and distribution revenues were up 29 per cent to $322 million. Overall, international revenues almost equaled US domestic revenues which grew a snail like 10 per cent to touch $733 million. Ad revenues grew 12 per cent to account for $383 million of that, while distribution fees went up 10 per cent to touch $329 million.

     

    Overall, Discovery saw a 28 per cent increase in revenues to $ 1,375 million; adjusted OIBDA rose 20 per cent to $ 597 million and net income climbed up by 24 per cent to $ 255 million. And while these numbers were lower than the Q2 2013 of 1,4
    On the international front, distribution revenues, excluding newly acquired businesses, in local currency terms grew 14 per cent mainly from increased subscribers, most notably in Latin America, and from higher rates, particularly in Latin America and Asia Pacific, as well as from additional contributions due to the consolidation of Discovery Japan.

    Zaslav had this to say on the occasion of the results: “As we continue to build new avenues of growth across the more mature US business, the bigger opportunity remains the potential of our international portfolio, where we are diligently applying our targeted investment approach to exploit our unparalleled market position and capitalise on those areas with significant upside from the evolution of pay television and the developing global advertising landscape.”

     

    International advertising revenues, excluding newly acquired businesses, were up 29 per cent in local currency terms, primarily due to increased viewership in Western Europe and higher pricing in Western Europe and Latin America.

     

    “Discovery’s thoughtful investment over the last two decades in securing distribution and establishing relationships with key affiliates, suppliers and advertisers in each market has given us a huge head start internationally. But it’s the additional steps we have taken over the last several years to take advantage of our market position that is driving such strong results today and will allow us to continue to grow even as pay-TV penetration growth begins to slow eventually,” Zaslav added.

     

    Adjusted OIBDA increased 34 per cent to $232 million on a reported basis and was up 17 per cent excluding newly acquired businesses and foreign currency fluctuations, reflecting the 18 per cent revenue growth partially offset by a 19 per cent increase in operating expenses. The higher operating expenses were primarily due to increased content amortisation, personnel costs and marketing expense as well as costs related to consolidating Discovery Japan.

     

    As markets have developed, Discovery Communications has aggressively opened new offices in key countries, like Turkey, the Ukraine and India, to closely connect with an evolving middle class. At the same time, it has established in-house sales functions in markets where the revenue opportunity dictated a more hands-on approach, such as Russia, Colombia and Argentina.

     

    On the content side, the network has increased its programming spend internationally by over 80 per cent since 2010 to capitalise on market opportunities, including broadening the reach of its female flagship, TLC, into over 165 countries, making TLC the most distributed women’s brand in the world from a standing start 24 months ago.
    It has also been expanding the footprint of its successful investigative and forensic channel Invesitgation Discovery (ID) into 150 countries, and expecting to approach 180 countries in the year ahead; or launching the kids network recently across Asia. All in, over the last three years, the network has launched over 60 new feeds and five new languages to satisfy the growing demand for its content, and the strong revenue growth Discovery Communications is delivering currently is certainly due in a large part to the targeted investment.

     

    “While it is certainly difficult to predict how the various international markets will perform going forward, we remain optimistic about our long-term growth prospects, given the platform we have built; the investments we have made and the growth we are delivering today, despite a relatively slow economic climate in many of the countries we operate in. As we continue to invest in our organic growth initiatives, we’re also making significant strides integrating our recent SBS Nordic acquisition. The joint ad sales team we’ve assembled is closing deals in the spot market, while preparing upfront presentations to message during the first quarter that lay out the compelling content offering and value proposition we can deliver to ad clients,” expounded Zaslav.

    Zaslav had in July 2013 downgraded its revenue expectations for the full year from 5.58-5.70 billion to $5.55-5.63 billion, following Discovery said it expected 2013 revenue of $5.55 billion to $5.63 billion, below its previous forecast for $5.58 billion to $5.70 billion. The company blamed unfavorable currency fluctuations and costs from its $1.7 billion acquisition of Scandinavian media company SBS in December 2012, apart from the 20 per cent investment in European sports network Eurosport.

     

    But it is quite likely that it is these very investments which will start adding oodles of revenue and cash to its bottomline going forward. We can only wait to discover if that will happen.

  • Raj TV reports flat q-o-q revenue for Q2-2013; 26 per cent lower q-o-q PAT

    Raj TV reports flat q-o-q revenue for Q2-2013; 26 per cent lower q-o-q PAT

    BENGALURU: Television network Raj Television Network Limited (Raj TV) reported almost flat revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs18.35 crore as compared to the Rs18.29 crore reported for Q1-2014. Y-o-y revenue was however higher by 12.3 per cent (about Rs 2.01 crore higher) than the Rs 16.34 crore for Q2-2013.
    Raj TV’s PAT for Q2-2014 at Rs 3.46 crore was about 26 per cent lower than the Rs 4.67 crore for Q1-2014, but 50 per cent higher than the Rs 2.31 crore y-o-y (Q2-2013).

    Despite a 23 per cent lower cost of revenues at Rs 5.18 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to the Rs 6.75 crore for Q1-2014 and lower by almost a third (32 per cent) cost of revenue for Q2-2013 at Rs 7.58 crore, higher employee benefits, higher depreciation and amortisation expense and elevated administrative expenses have increased the total expense by about two per cent to Rs 13.09 crore as compared to the Rs 12.85 crore for Q1-2013. Raj TV’s total expense at Rs 13.55 crore for Q2-2013 was higher by 3.3 per cent as compared to Q2-2014.

    Administrative cost at Rs 3.06 crore for Q2-2014 was a whopping 13.5 per cent more than the Rs 2.69 crore for Q1-2014 and almost 26 per cent more than the Rs 2.43 crore for Q2-2013.

    Further, the network paid almost 17 per cent higher finance cost at Rs 97.15 lakh (Rs 0.9715 crore) as compared to the Rs 83.34 lakh (Rs 0.8334 crore) for Q1-2014 and almost 28 per cent higher finance cost than the Rs 76.02 lakh (Rs 0.7602 crore) for Q2-2013.

  • Balaji quintuples y-o-y PAT for Q2-2014; EBIDTA more than doubles

    Balaji quintuples y-o-y PAT for Q2-2014; EBIDTA more than doubles

    BENGALURU: Balaji Telefilms Limited (BTL), the blue-eyed entity of the Indian media and entertainment industry, reported consolidated PAT of Rs 12.33 crore for Q2-2014, more than quintuple (506 per cent) the Rs 2.43 crore reported for Q2-2013 and more than triple (342 per cent) of the Rs 3.61 crore for Q1-2014.

    The improved performance was driven essentially by its motion picture operations. BTL reported EBIDTA for Q2-2014 at Rs 10.95 crore, more than double the Rs 4.63 crore for Q2-2013. BTL’s EBIDTA for Q1-2014 was negative at Rs (-5.02) crore

    The company’s consolidated revenue from operations for Q2-2014 at Rs 194.16 crore was more than triple (329 per cent) of the Rs 58.96 crore for Q2-2013 and more than double the Rs 84.04 crore for Q1-2014.

    BTL has reported revenue from three streams: Balaji Telefilms (Television content production-Balaji); Motion Pictues – Balaji Moption Pictures Limited (BMPL) and BOLT Media Limited (BOLT).

    Its television content production stream reported revenue of Rs 30.33 crore for Q2-2014, which was 33 per cent higher than the Rs 22.80 crore for Q1-2014. Rs 32.32 crore were spent in Q2-2014 towards cost of production, acquisition and cost of telecast fees, staff cost, depreciation and other expense resulting in loss from operations of Rs (-1.99) crore. Other Income brought in Rs 3.02 crore and hence a PAT of 0.804 crore.

    BMPL with revenue of Rs 164.05 crore for Q2-2014, which was more than double (2.66 times) the Rs 61.67 crore for Q1-2014. Expense totaling Rs 152.23 crore resulted in a PAT of Rs 11.81 crore.

    BOLT had revenue of 0.27 crore and total expense of 0.59 crore resulting in a net loss of Rs (-0.32) crore.

  • Network18 Q2 FY-14 EBITDA is back to black

    Network18 Q2 FY-14 EBITDA is back to black

    BENGALURU: Investors in TV18 Broadcast Limited (TV18) have a reason to smile and cheer, though the stock market has not reacted positively to the Q2-2013 results post the financial announcement. The stock’s price had taken a shallow dive (down by about 1.75 per cent) at the time of writing this report.

    Though the company has been showing improved performance over the past few quarters, it has returned a profit of Rs 10.1 crore for the current quarter Q2-2014. “While the general news and niche genres witnessed continued softness, our advertising revenues from entertainment led by Colors grew strongly,” says the company.

    TV18 Broadcast, a subsidiary of Network 18 that operates news channels, also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels – Colors and Colors HD amongst others.

    Let us look at some of the Q2-2014 figures reported by TV18

    A consolidated summary shows that TV18’s revenue at Rs 483.2 crore for Q2-2014 has grown by almost a third (32.3 per cent) as compared to the Rs 365.1 crore for Q2-2013 and by 22 per cent as compared to the Rs 396.2 crore for Q1-2014.

    Revenue from news and infotaiment at Rs 119.7 crore in Q2-2014 has shrunk by 1.2 per cent as compared to the Rs 121.1 crore in Q2-2013 and is almost flat (grown by 0.6 per cent) as compared to the Rs 119 crore for Q1-2014. Though y-o-y operating profit for Q2-2014 from news and infotainment at Rs 8.4 crore is more than double (2.1 times more) than the Rs 4 crore for Q2-2013, it is almost half (57 per cent) of the Rs 14.7 crore the segment had returned for Q1-2014 (q-o-q).

    It is general news that has bled news and infotaiment profit that has accrued through business news. General news with revenue of Rs 49 crore in Q2-2014 has taken a 19 per cent fall as compared to the Rs 60.3 crore in Q2-2013 and a 11.2 per cent drop to Rs 55.2 crore in Q1-2014. Operating loss from general news at Rs (-8.2) crore more than doubled (operating loss increased by 248 per cent) the Rs (-3.3 crore) reported for Q2-2013 and was almost six times the Rs (-1.4) crore operating loss for Q1-2014. Maybe the group needs to consider a massive revamp of its general news programming and presenters’ offerings?

    Business news with revenue of Rs 65.2 crore saw a more than healthy growth of 26 per cent as compared to the Rs 51.9 crore in Q2-2013 and 14 per cent growth as compared to the Rs 57.3 crore for Q1-2014. Business news returned an operating profit of Rs 18.3 crore, 8.3 per cent higher than the Rs 16.9 crore for Q2-2013 and 4.6 per cent higher than the Rs 17.5 crore in Q1-2014.

    Revenue from entertainment – television (Colors and other channels) in Q2-2014 at Rs 174.5 crore has gone up by a whopping 36 per cent as compared to the Rs 128.5 crore for Q2-2013 and is more by 15 per cent when compared to the Rs 151.8 crore for Q1-2014. TV18’s operating profit from entertainment – television segment at Rs 24.7 crore is 80 per cent more than Rs 13.7 crore for Q2-2013 and 62.5 per cent more than the Rs 15.2 crore in Q1-2014.

    TV18’s entertainment-Motion Pictures segment revenue of Rs 62 crore for Q2-2014 was about 2.8 times more than the Rs 22.1 crore for Q2-2013 and 2.3 times more than the Rs 18.8 crore for Q1-2014. This segment also has returned an operating profit of Rs 3.7 crore in Q2-2014 as compared to losses of Rs (-7.4) crore and Rs (-8.4) crore in Q2-2013 and Q1-2014 respectively.

    Though revenue from IndiaCast has almost doubled to Rs 182.5 crore as compared to the Rs 95 crore in Q2-2013, operating profit of Rs 1 crore from this stream is almost a fourth of the Rs 3.9 crore for Q2-2013 and less than half the Rs 2.3 crore for Q1-2014.

    Inter-segmental eliminations have wiped off a massive Rs 55.1 crore from TV18’s consolidated revenue, but have had a net gain of Rs 1.8 crore to the overall results.

    Note: IndiaCast is a 50:50 joint venture between TV18 and Viacom18 and has been consolidated as such. IndiaCast commenced operations on 1 July 2012 and as such, is consolidated only from Q2 FY13. For the previous year it was consolidated as a 100 per cent subsidiary. TV18 moved to the net distribution income methodology of accounting for carriage and subscription from Q2-2013. Q1-2013 results had been regrouped to ensure comparability. For Q1-2013, gross subscription and carriage numbers are included in the audited results of FY2013. From the current year (FY-2014); TV18 says that it has stopped reporting new operations separately given their vintage and that segmental numbers are based on management accounts and are not audited.

    Viacom 18 numbers

    Q2-2014 revenue for Viacom 18 stood at Rs 546.7 crore, a growth of 34 per cent over the previous quarter. Operating profits grew strongly to Rs 57.5 crore as against Rs 12.6 crore in Q2-2013.

    Television broadcasting revenue for the current quarter (Q2-2014) was Rs 349.1 crore as against Rs 257 crore in the previous year. Operating profit from TV18’s television business stood at Rs 49.4 crore and grew by 80 per cent over previous year. The growth was driven by both strong advertising and distribution revenues, says the company.

    Viacom18 Motion Pictures released five movies during the quarter under review (Q2-2014). The slate had three Hindi titles Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Luv U Soniyo and Madras Café and two Marathi titles – 72 miles and Kumari Gangubai Non Matric. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Madras Café were critically acclaimed and runaway hits. Operating profits from the business stood at Rs 7.5 crore for the quarter (Q2-2014).

    Network18 managing director Raghav Bahl says, “Even though the macroeconomic environment continued to be uncertain, the media and entertainment industry is well poised to deliver robust growth. At TV18, we are confident of maintaining our growth trajectory to create value for our stakeholders. During the current quarter our broadcasting operations turned in strong operating profits. We are particularly heartened by the doubling of operating profits in the first half of the current financial year as compared to previous year.”

    Group CEO B. Saikumar said, “During the current quarter, we turned in robust operating profits for both our broadcasting and motion pictures businesses. We embarked on an operational restructuring programme to realise synergies across the news network which will be instrumental in creating sustained value. Our entertainment business turned in an excellent quarter and IndiaCast continued on its growth trajectory. The advertising environment continues to be lackadaisical especially for news and other niche genres but we remain confident of delivering a strong year ahead.”

  • Q2-2014 HT Media PAT up due to subsidiary stake sale: Radio Business PBIT up 28%

    Q2-2014 HT Media PAT up due to subsidiary stake sale: Radio Business PBIT up 28%

    BENGALURU: Despite slightly lower consolidated income from operations in Q2-2014 at Rs 534.65 crore, as compared to the Rs 540.93 crore in Q1-2014, Indian media group HT Media Limited (HT Media) reported a 22.5 per cent jump in PAT for Q2-2014 at Rs 58.18 crore (after minority interest) as compared to the Rs 47.49 crore in Q1-2014 and 75 per cent higher than the Rs 33.31 crore for Q2-2013. HT Media had reported group consolidated income from operations of Rs 510.87 crore for Q2-2013.

     

    Excluding the Rs 38.21 crore from the proceeds of the sale of HT Media’s stake in HT Burda, PAT for Q2-2014 would be lower than the PAT for the immediate preceding quarter or the corresponding quarter of last year.

     

    Note: An amount of Rs 38.21 crore representing the difference between (i) the net proceeds of HT Media’s sale of equity shares held in a subsidiary company HT Burda amounting to Rs 59.91 crore and (ii) the carrying amount of assets of HT Burda less liabilities in the consolidated financial statement amounting to Rs 21.7 crore has been recognised as other income in the company’s financial statement.

     

    HT Media’s Fever 104 FM has four radio stations in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi. Its Radio, Broadcast and Entertainment segment’s PBIT at Rs 4.69 crore for Q2-2014 was 27.8 per cent more than the Rs 3.67crore for Q1-2014 and almost double (1.97 times) the Rs 2.38 crore PBIT for Q1-2013.

     

    The company claims that its advertising revenue from Printing of Newspapers and Periodicals ‘ segment increased to Rs 386.8 crore for Q2-2014 from Rs 364 crore in Q2-2013, primarily driven by increase in advertising yields and volumes. It also claims a 14 per cent increase in circulation revenue of print segment to Rs 64.2 crore in Q2-2014 from Rs 56.3 crore during the corresponding period last year, driven by increase in realisation per copy.

     

    Let us look at the other Q2-2014 figures reported by HT Media

     

    HT Media’s total income for Q2-2014 at Rs 591.6 crore was 11 per cent more than the Rs 535.25 crore for Q2-2013 and 4.1 per cent more than the Rs 568.49 crore for Q1-2014, mainly on account of higher other income due to HT Media’s sale of its stake in a subsidiary company HT Burda in the current quarter.

     

    Other Income at Rs 56.95 crore for Q2-2014 was more than double (2.34 times more) the Rs 24.38 crore in Q2-2013 and also more than double (2.1 times more) the Rs 27.56 crore for Q1-2014. However, once the proceeds of HT Media’s sale of its stake in its subsidiary HT Burda of Rs 38.21 crore is excluded, Q2-2014 other income would be lower than the other income for Q1-2014 or Q2-2013.

     

    HT Media’s total expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 492.61 crore was about three per cent more than the Rs 478.57 crore for Q2-2013 and about 1.6 per cent more than the Rs 484.81 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    A major chunk of the expense is the cost of raw materials consumed in the case of HT Media. It spent Rs 189.4 crore for Q2-2014 which was three per cent lower than the Rs 195.25 crore in Q2-2013, but 10.3 per cent more than the Rs 171.57 crore in the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014).

     

    Another major chunk of expense is Other Expense in the case of HT Media. Other Expense at Rs 180.28 crore for Q2-2014 was 15.5 per cent more than the Rs 156.04 crore for Q2-2013, but about 0.8 per cent lower than the Rs 181.75 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    HT Media’s Employee Benefit expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 106.47 crore was three per cent more than the Rs 103.41 crore for Q2-2013 and 0.8 per cent more than the Rs 105.52 crore for Q1-2014.

     

     Segment Results:

     

    HT Media reports revenue from four streams – Printing of Newspapers and Periodicals segment; Broadcast and Entertainment segment; Digital segment and from Unallocated segment.  

     

    Revenue from HT Media’s Printing of Newspapers and Periodicals segment at Rs 495.85 crore for Q2-2014 was 3.4 per cent higher than the Rs 479.18 crore for Q2-2013, but 1.1 per cent lower than the Rs 504.68 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    PBIT for Printing of Newspapers and Periodicals segment for Q2-2014 at Rs 59.48 crore was 23.3 per cent higher than the Rs 48.24 crore for Q2-2013, but 27 per cent lower than the Rs 82.46 crore for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2104).

     

    Revenue from Radio, Broadcast and Entertainment segment for Q2-2014 at Rs 22.16 crore was 11.2 per cent more than the Rs 19.92 crore for Q2-2013, and marginally higher (3.5 per cent) than the Rs 21.41 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    As mentioned above, Its Radio, Broadcast and Entertainment segment PBIT at Rs 4.69 crore  for Q2-2014 was 27.8 per cent more than the Rs 3.67 crore for Q1-2014 and almost double (1.97 times more) than the Rs 2.38 crore for Q1-2013.

     

    Results from the Digital Segment and the Unallocated segment are negative. Please see the attached financial statements.

     

    HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia said, “We are glad to report a stable growth in revenue and profit this quarter, despite continued uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment, both in India, and elsewhere. Our growth initiatives in Mumbai and UP continue to deliver results, and all our digital businesses have shown robust growth. We are confident that our diversified business model, established brands and sustained focus on cost reduction will continue to create value for all stakeholders and also show better results as the macroeconomic environment improves.”