ITV

Category: Financials

  • 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.”

  • Despite lower income, releases in Q1-2014 help Eros post higher PAT for Q2-2014

    Despite lower income, releases in Q1-2014 help Eros post higher PAT for Q2-2014

    BENGALURU:  Eros International Media Limited (Eros) posted 12.8 per cent lower revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 201.47 crore as compared to the Rs 231.05 crore for Q2-2013 and 3.7 per cent higher than the Rs 194.2 crore for Q1-2014. However, Eros’s PAT (after minority) for Q2-2014 at Rs 36.9 crore (PAT margin 18.4 per cent) was 41.8 per cent higher than the PAT of Rs 26.08 crore (PAT margin 11.4 per cent) in Q2-2013 and 26.2 per cent more than the Rs 29.3 crores (PAT margin 15.1 per cent) in Q1-2014.

     

    Eros Managing Director Sunil Lulla said, “Eros has given strong financial and operational performance in the first half of the fiscal, especially, given that we have had no high budget releases in the first half of FY 2014 compared to two high budget releases in the first half of FY 2013. The company’s performance was underpinned by the all-round success of movies like Grand Masti, Raanjhaana, Go Goa Gone and our overseas release of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani all of which have been monetised over multiple distribution channels.”

     

    The company says that its performance during HY1-14 was also backed by other overseas releases like Furkey, Lootera, Shootout at Wadala, Ek thi Dhayan, Phata Poster Nikla Hero and within the country through regional films such as Rangeelay (Punjabi) and Tamil films. Also, television revenues for Q2-2014 were mainly underpinned by a combination of catalogue monetisation as well as delivering new films under the previously announced licensing agreement with Viacom 18.

     

    Let us look at the other HY1-2014 and Q1-2014 figures posted by Eros:

     

    Overall for HY1-2014, PAT at Rs 66.31 crore was 15.3 per cent higher than the Rs 57.49 crore Eros had reported for Q2-2013, despite releasing only 26 films (11 Hindi and 15 Tamil) in HY1-2014. In Q1-2014, Eros had 12 releases, in Q2-2014, IT HAD 14. In HY1-2013, Eros had had 42 releases.

     

    Total Expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 103.8 crore was 42.2 per cent lower than the Rs 179.51 crore for Q2-2013 and 4.2 per cent lower than the Rs 108.31 crore in Q1-2014. Direct cost for Q2-2014 at Rs 139.36 crore was 17.8 per cent lower than the Rs 169.07 crore for Q2-2013, but 6.1 per cent higher than the Rs 131.38 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Interest cost for Q2-2014 at Rs 6.2 crore was more than double (2.26 times) the Rs 2.74 crore for Q2-2013 and 34.5 per cent more than the Rs 4.61 crore in Q1-2014. Other expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 11.8 crore was 42.8 per cent lower than the Rs 20.63 crore for Q2-2013 and 23.6 per cent lower than the Rs 15.45 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    EBIT for Q2-2014 at Rs 50.31 crore was 16.4 per cent higher than the Rs 42.35 crore for Q2-2013 and 9.1 per cent more than the Rs 46.1 crores for Q1-2014.

     

    Said Lulla, “We remain excited about our collaboration with HBO Asia and the opportunity it presents among the premium television market within India. We are also looking forward to the high profile releases in the remainder of the fiscal year  such as Ram Leela, Kochadaiyaan, Happy Ending, and a number of smaller budget high concept movies that are slated to be released in the fiscal under review.”

     

    Eros says that its collaboration with HBO Asia continues to receive an encouraging response after the launch of its two new advertisement free channels in February 2013 – HBO Defined and HBO Hits that are not only available on Dish and Airtel DTH platforms, but also on digital cable platforms such as Hathway and GTPL.

     

    Further during Q2-2014, the company’s online entertainment portal Eros Now added a host of Bollywood titles acquired from UTV and Viacom to its movie subscription service.

  • Siti Cable reports significant improvement in EBIDTA in Q2-2014

    Siti Cable reports significant improvement in EBIDTA in Q2-2014

    BENGALURU:  The painstaking rollout of the digitisation of India’s cable TV ecosystem and the depreciation of the rupee are taking their toll – both positively and negatively –  on national MSOs.  Take the case of Essel Group company Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable), the erstwhile Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd (WWIL). Its latest quarter (Q2-2014) shows that the company has shown an improvement in its EBIDTA to Rs 32.98 crore which is 74 per cent higher than the previous corresponding quarter last fiscal.  It’s bottomline is however stained red in  Q2-2014 with a negative PAT of Rs 21.87 crore, almost double (173 per cent) the negative PAT of Rs (-12.65 ) crore the company had reported during the corresponding quarter (Q2-2013) last year. However, the loss is lower than the Rs (-27.07) crore for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014).  

     

    Let us look at some other numbers for Siti Cable in Q2-2014

     

    Operating revenue in Siti Cable’s case is primarily generated from subscriber related income especially from digitisation, income from bandwidth charges, ad income, STB activation charges and other operating revenues.

     

    The cable network reported total revenue of Rs 162.94 crore for Q2-2014, which was 56.7 per cent more than the Rs 103.98 crore for Q2-2013 and 12.9 per cent more than the Rs 144.29 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    Total expenses for Q2-2014 at Rs 129.96 crore were 57 per cent more than the Rs 85.06 crore for Q2-2013 and 15 per cent higher than the Rs 113.1 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Siti Cable claims that it is the only MSO in India which shares 25 per cent carriage revenue with local cable operators. A big chunk of its expense is carriage sharing, pay channel and related costs in the latest quarter. The company spent Rs 65.46 crore in Q2-2014 towards this head, which was 21.7 per cent higher than the Rs 53.03 crore for Q2-2013 and six per cent more than the Rs 61.8 crore during the immediate preceding quarter Q1-2014.

     

     Siti Cable’s main operating expenses include cost of goods and services, employees’ cost, selling and distribution expenses and other expenditure. Its major cost item was cost of goods and services recorded as Rs 82.7 crore during the quarter (Q2-2014)  representing 51 per cent of the total revenue in comparison to Rs 62.15 crore in Q2-2013, representing 60 per cent of the total revenue.

     

    Siti Cable’s Selling and Distribution Expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 12.42 crore was more than quadruple (424 per cent) the Rs 2.93 crore for Q2-2013 and more than double (225 per cent) the Rs 5.51 crore for Q1-2014. Its administrative expense at Rs 25.44 crore for Q2-2014 was almost double (95 per cent more) than the Rs 13.03 crore for Q2-2013 and 22.7 per cent more than the Rs 20.74 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    Another major cost item was foreign exchange fluctuation due to Rupee devaluation during the Q2-2014, which has been recorded at Rs 7.69 crore, says the company; the corresponding figure for Q1-2014 was Rs 5.11 crore.

     

    Siti Cable chairman Subash Chandra said, “The industry is at an inflexion point where creating the valuable ecosystem for all stake holders be it consumer, broadcaster or last mile local cable operators will ensure sustainable growth. We see immense opportunity for digitization in India in the years ahead.”

     

    Siti Cable CEO V D Wadhwa said, “We are pleased to report a healthy performance in the second quarter of the year, our total revenue and EBITDA in the quarter grew to Rs 162.9 crore and Rs 33 crore, a growth of 57 per cent and 74 per cent respectively over last fiscal. Our growth was largely due to greater focus on subscription revenue despite low seeding of STB’s during the quarter. We shall continue to focus on business expansion and revenue maximization in coming quarter.”

     

    Siti Cable informed BSE that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 23 October 2013, inter-alia, has approved the appointment of Anil Kumar Malhotra as manager of the company for a period of three years.

  • Siti Cable reports significant improvement in EBIDTA in Q2-2014

    Siti Cable reports significant improvement in EBIDTA in Q2-2014

    BENGALURU:  The painstaking rollout of the digitisation of India’s cable TV ecosystem and the depreciation of the rupee are taking their toll – both positively and negatively –  on national MSOs.  Take the case of Essel Group company Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable), the erstwhile Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd (WWIL). Its latest quarter (Q2-2014) shows that the company has shown an improvement in its EBIDTA to Rs 32.98 crore which is 74 per cent higher than the previous corresponding quarter last fiscal.  It’s bottomline is however stained red in  Q2-2014 with a negative PAT of Rs 21.87 crore, almost double (173 per cent) the negative PAT of Rs (-12.65 ) crore the company had reported during the corresponding quarter (Q2-2013) last year. However, the loss is lower than the Rs (-27.07) crore for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014).  

     

    Let us look at some other numbers for Siti Cable in Q2-2014

     

    Operating revenue in Siti Cable’s case is primarily generated from subscriber related income especially from digitisation, income from bandwidth charges, ad income, STB activation charges and other operating revenues.

     

    The cable network reported total revenue of Rs 162.94 crore for Q2-2014, which was 56.7 per cent more than the Rs 103.98 crore for Q2-2013 and 12.9 per cent more than the Rs 144.29 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    Total expenses for Q2-2014 at Rs 129.96 crore were 57 per cent more than the Rs 85.06 crore for Q2-2013 and 15 per cent higher than the Rs 113.1 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Siti Cable claims that it is the only MSO in India which shares 25 per cent carriage revenue with local cable operators. A big chunk of its expense is carriage sharing, pay channel and related costs in the latest quarter. The company spent Rs 65.46 crore in Q2-2014 towards this head, which was 21.7 per cent higher than the Rs 53.03 crore for Q2-2013 and six per cent more than the Rs 61.8 crore during the immediate preceding quarter Q1-2014.

     

     Siti Cable’s main operating expenses include cost of goods and services, employees’ cost, selling and distribution expenses and other expenditure. Its major cost item was cost of goods and services recorded as Rs 82.7 crore during the quarter (Q2-2014)  representing 51 per cent of the total revenue in comparison to Rs 62.15 crore in Q2-2013, representing 60 per cent of the total revenue.

     

    Siti Cable’s Selling and Distribution Expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 12.42 crore was more than quadruple (424 per cent) the Rs 2.93 crore for Q2-2013 and more than double (225 per cent) the Rs 5.51 crore for Q1-2014. Its administrative expense at Rs 25.44 crore for Q2-2014 was almost double (95 per cent more) than the Rs 13.03 crore for Q2-2013 and 22.7 per cent more than the Rs 20.74 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    Another major cost item was foreign exchange fluctuation due to Rupee devaluation during the Q2-2014, which has been recorded at Rs 7.69 crore, says the company; the corresponding figure for Q1-2014 was Rs 5.11 crore.

     

    Siti Cable chairman Subash Chandra said, “The industry is at an inflexion point where creating the valuable ecosystem for all stake holders be it consumer, broadcaster or last mile local cable operators will ensure sustainable growth. We see immense opportunity for digitization in India in the years ahead.”

     

    Siti Cable CEO V D Wadhwa said, “We are pleased to report a healthy performance in the second quarter of the year, our total revenue and EBITDA in the quarter grew to Rs 162.9 crore and Rs 33 crore, a growth of 57 per cent and 74 per cent respectively over last fiscal. Our growth was largely due to greater focus on subscription revenue despite low seeding of STB’s during the quarter. We shall continue to focus on business expansion and revenue maximization in coming quarter.”

  • Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2014, pares debt by Rs 235 crore

    Dish TV reports improved results for Q2-2014, pares debt by Rs 235 crore

    BENGALURU: India’s largest DTH services provider Dish TV India (Dish TV) reported second quarter fiscal 2014 total income from operations at Rs 592.6 crore which was 11 per cent more than the Rs 533.6 crore for Q2-2013 and 2.5 per cent more than the Rs 578.4 crore for Q1-2014.

    When it announced Q1-2014 results, the company had said that it was planning to pare down debt by Rs 750 crore. To that extent, Dish TV has reported along with its Q2-2014 results that it has reduced debt by Rs 235 crore during the half year ended 30 September 2014. Its financial expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 34.5 crore was slightly lower (by 2.5 per cent) than the Rs 35.4 crore in Q1-2014. Its financial expense for Q2-2013 was Rs 31.7 crore.

    Let us look at other results for Q2-2014 reported by Dish TV

    The company has reported an increased EBIDTA margin of 25 per cent for Q2-2014 at Rs 147.9 crore as compared to Q1-2014 when Dish TV had reported EBIDTA of Rs 121.7 crore (22 per cent margin). Its EBIDTA for Q2-2013 was Rs 155.7 crore (29.2 per cent margin).

    The company reported a lower net loss of Rs 16 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to the loss of Rs 30.4 crore for Q1-2014. Exceptional gain at Rs 76.4 crore in Q2-2013 resulted in a PAT of Rs 55.1 crore for Q2-2013.

    Dish TV’s primary expenses include cost of goods and services, personnel cost, administrative cost, Dish TV’s advertising expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 11.3 crore was almost a third (36.8 per cent) of the Rs 30.7 crore in Q1-2014. Advertising expense in Q2-2013 was almost double at Rs 22.2 crore for Q2-2013.

    The company’s selling and distribution expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 62.4 crore was 19.5 per cent higher than the Rs 52.2 crore in Q2-2013 and 5.5 per cent more than the Rs 59.3 crore reported for Q1-2014.

    Dish TV reported 1.64 lakh additional subscriptions during Q2-2014 as compared to the 2 lakh new subscribers the company had reported for Q1-2013. Dish TV had said that it had added 4.77 lakh new subscribers in Q2-2013 and had achieved a gross of 1.39 crore and 1 crore net subscribers at the end of Q2-2013.

    Its subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) during Q2-2014 at Rs 1,849 per subscriber was 18.7 per cent lower than the Rs 2,273 per subscriber during Q2-2013, but about 1.1 per cent more than the Rs 1,828 SAC per customer for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014).

    Subscription revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 537 crore was higher by 13.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 477 crore for Q2-2013 and higher by 1.7 per cent as compared to the Rs 528 crore for Q1-2014. Its ARPU at Rs 165 remained the same for Q2-2014 and Q1-2014.

    Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “We added 164 thousand net subscribers during the quarter and maintained our leadership share. Aided by quality additions, Dish TV’s churn remained at 0.6 per cent per month while SAC was flattish. This was despite the fact that being seasonally weak, the quarter witnessed brief periods of desperate attempts to undercut prices by select DTH platforms. Dish TV, aware of the subsequent fallout of throw away prices, chose not to jump on the bandwagon.”

    “With massive opportunity in the form of Phase III and IV of mandatory digitisation ahead, we are confident of acquiring industry leading incremental share while still keeping a tab on the subsidy per box. We continue to be conscious about self-funded growth with minimal debt on the books. In line with that, we repaid debt to the tune of Rs 235 crore in the first half and would be paying off the rupee equivalent of $ 9 crore in the second half of the current fiscal,” he added.
    “We are on track and look forward to acquiring additional transponder capacity to beef up our existing, industry leading bandwidth in the current fiscal. We intend to leverage the additional capacity to distribute localised content as well as strengthen carriage revenues. Moreover, with more than 60 per cent of the broadcasting industries subscription revenues coming from DTH alone, it is now time that the favourable terms, including carriage fees, extended to the MSO’s by the broadcasters be either revisited or offered to DTH platforms as well. This becomes all the more imperative considering that, in a digital environment, cable MSO’s are now almost there in terms of package wise billing in select 2-3 cities of Phase I & II,” said Goel further.

  • Q2-2014: ZMCL holds ground despite economic downturn

    BENGALURU: Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) unaudited results for Q2-2014 reveal that though advertising revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 59.92 crore showed a growth of 20.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 43.92 crore for Q2-2013, it kept pace with the Rs 59.9 crore for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014). ZMCL’s advertising revenue in Q4-2013 was Rs 52.19 crore.

    “The economy may have sputtered a bit but it is expected to be on track soon. What is important is that we continue to base our strategy on a sound understanding of our consumers and provide them with relevant and unique content experiences in the news domain,” said ZMCL non executive chairman of the board Subash Chandra.

    Let us take a look at ZMCL’s other Q2-2014 figures

    Operating revenue for Q2-2014 grew by 18.5 per cent to Rs 83.02 crore from Rs 70.03 crore in Q2-2013 and by 6.9 per cent from the Rs 77.68 crore reported in Q1-2014 (immediate preceding quarter).

    ZMCL’s subscription revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 24.9 crore grew by 11.9 per cent y-o-y from the Rs 22.26 crore in Q2-2013, and by 18.6 per cent from the Rs 18.6 crore in Q1-2014. Revenue from Other Sales and Services for Q2-2014 at Rs 5.2 crore grew more than a third (35.1 per cent) as compared to the Rs 3.85 crore in Q2-2013 and by 37.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 3.78 crore in Q1-2014.

    Total expense at Rs 75.54 crore for Q2-2014 was 21.5 per cent more than the Rs 62.17 crore for Q2-2013 and 10.5 per cent more than the Rs 68.37 crore in Q1-2014.https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

    ZMCL’s recorded a fall in PBT of (-7.8 per cent) to Rs 6.47 crore in Q2-2014 from Rs 7.02 crore in Q2-2013. However PBT of Rs 14.99 crore for the half year ended 30 September 2013 was higher by 35.8 per cent as compared to the PBT of Rs 11.04 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year. Q2-2014 EBITDA also fell by (-4.8 per cent) to Rs 74.8 crore from Rs 78.6 crore reported in Q2-2013. However, ZMCL says that its existing news channels grew their EBITDA by 25.2 per cent on YTD basis at Rs 30.83 crore improving their EBITDA margins from 18.6 per cent to 21 per cent.

    Added Chandra, “Our company has embarked to consolidate our news media presence by bringing together our television, print and internet content under a single umbrella. This will enable us to reach out to our consumers in seamless and anytime, anywhere mode. Our commitment to grow larger in size, impact and shareholder value remains as is and we continue to take steps towards the same.”

    ZMCL group CEO news cluster Bhaskar Das said, “We launched Zee Rajasthan Plus in Rajasthan in early July and will soon launch in other regional markets. Furthermore with sustained push for cable digitisation, we expect more and more of our viewers to get associated with us. New media, which has been another focus area for us, has continued to show strong growth numbers.”

    ZMCL whole time director Alok Agarwal said, “Our network wide initiative Bharat Bhagya Vidhata has received tremendous feedback and social media engagement from the viewers, thinkers and the political fraternity alike by reaching a sum total of over 100 million television viewers cumulatively and having over 11.5 million reach for #BBV for the campaign. In addition we continue to leverage our network synergies to create further operational efficiencies in gathering and packaging our content and at the same time grow our revenues by providing creative sales solutions to our clients.”

  • Q2-2014: ZMCL holds ground despite economic downturn

    Q2-2014: ZMCL holds ground despite economic downturn

    BENGALURU: Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) unaudited results for Q2-2014 reveal that though advertising revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 59.92 crore showed a growth of 20.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 43.92 crore for Q2-2013, it kept pace with the Rs 59.9 crore for the immediate preceding quarter (Q1-2014). ZMCL’s advertising revenue in Q4-2013 was Rs 52.19 crore.

     

    “The economy may have sputtered a bit but it is expected to be on track soon. What is important is that we continue to base our strategy on a sound understanding of our consumers and provide them with relevant and unique content experiences in the news domain,” said ZMCL non executive chairman of the board Subash Chandra.

     

     Let us take a look at ZMCL’s other Q2-2014 figures

     

    Operating revenue for Q2-2014 grew by 18.5 per cent to Rs 83.02 crore from Rs 70.03 crore in Q2-2013 and by 6.9 per cent from the Rs 77.68 crore reported in Q1-2014 (immediate preceding quarter).  

     

    ZMCL’s subscription revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 24.9 crore grew by 11.9 per cent y-o-y from the Rs 22.26 crore in Q2-2013, and by 18.6 per cent from the Rs 18.6 crore in Q1-2014. Revenue from Other Sales and Services for Q2-2014 at Rs 5.2 crore grew more than a third (35.1 per cent) as compared to the Rs 3.85 crore in Q2-2013 and by 37.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 3.78 crore in Q1-2014.  

     

    Total expense at Rs 75.54 crore for Q2-2014 was 21.5 per cent more than the Rs 62.17 crore for Q2-2013 and 10.5 per cent more than the Rs 68.37 crore in Q1-2014.https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

     

     ZMCL’s recorded a fall in PBT of (-7.8 per cent) to Rs 6.47 crore in Q2-2014 from Rs 7.02 crore in Q2-2013. However PBT of Rs 14.99 crore for the half year ended 30 September 2013 was higher by 35.8 per cent as compared to the PBT of Rs 11.04 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year. Q2-2014 EBITDA also fell by (-4.8 per cent) to Rs 74.8 crore from Rs 78.6 crore reported in Q2-2013. However, ZMCL says that its existing news channels grew their EBITDA by 25.2 per cent on YTD basis at Rs 30.83 crore improving their EBITDA margins from 18.6 per cent to 21 per cent.

     

    Added Chandra, “Our company has embarked to consolidate our news media presence by bringing together our television, print and internet content under a single umbrella. This will enable us to reach out to our consumers in seamless and anytime, anywhere mode. Our commitment to grow larger in size, impact and shareholder value remains as is and we continue to take steps towards the same.”

     

    ZMCL group CEO news cluster Bhaskar Das said, “We launched Zee Rajasthan Plus in Rajasthan in early July and will soon launch in other regional markets. Furthermore with sustained push for cable digitisation, we expect more and more of our viewers to get associated with us. New media, which has been another focus area for us, has continued to show strong growth numbers.”

     

    ZMCL whole time director Alok Agarwal said, “Our network wide initiative Bharat Bhagya Vidhata has received tremendous feedback and social media engagement from the viewers, thinkers and the political fraternity alike by reaching a sum total of over 100 million television viewers cumulatively  and having over 11.5 million reach for #BBV  for the campaign. In addition we continue to leverage our network synergies to create further operational efficiencies in gathering and packaging our content and at the same time grow our revenues by providing creative sales solutions to our clients.”

  • Zeel Q2-2014 results exceed Q2-2013 results

    Zeel Q2-2014 results exceed Q2-2013 results

    BENGALURU: The Subhash Chandra led content and broadcast player Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) reported total income from operations of Rs 1,101.28 crore for Q2-2014, up 15.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 953.50 crore for the corresponding quarter of FY-2013 and 13.2 per cent higher than the Rs 973.25 crore for the preceding quarter Q1-2014. PAT for Q2-2014 at Rs 236.31 crore was 26 per cent higher than the Rs 186.7 crore for Q2-2013 and 5.5 per cent more than the Rs 223.9 crore for Q1-2014.

    Let’s take a look at Zeel’s Q2-2014 performance

    Advertising revenue for Q2-2014 at Rs 583.3 crore was 10.5 per cent higher than the Rs 528.1 crore for Q2-2013 and 10 per cent more than the Rs 530.1 crore for Q1-2014. Zeel claims that without sports, its ad revenues would have grown by more than 20 per cent in Q2-2014 as compared to Q2-2013.

    Zeel’s subscription revenue jumped 16 per cent in Q2-2014 to Rs 458.1 crore from Rs 394.95 crore in Q2-2013 and was higher by eight per cent as compared to the Rs 424.1 crore for Q1-2014.

    The company’s total expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 799.9 crore was 7.3 per cent more than the Rs 745.4 crore for Q2-2013, and 15.9 per cent more than the Rs 690.4 crore during Q1-2014. Operating cost which formed a major chunk of expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 504.1 crore was 5.2 per cent more than the Rs 479 crore for Q2-2013, and substantially higher by 22.7 per cent as compared to the Rs 410.8 crore for Q1-2014.

    Selling and other expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 187.5 crore was 24 per cent more than the Rs 169.5 crore for Q2-2014.

    Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra said, “The M&E industry growth is marginally impacted by the overall slowdown of the economy. The television sector, in particular, continues to grow on the back of better subscriber growth linked to increasing digitisation. There was an apprehension about the trends in advertising spends given the overall weakness in the economy, but the television media industry has continued to grow in double digits during the second quarter. Zeel has outpaced the industry advertising revenue growth once again.”

    Zeel managing director and CEO Punit Goenka said, “Sports performance for the quarter has been good, but due to a heavy sports calendar and rupee depreciation, the business is expected to be in losses for some time to come.”

    “Beginning next quarter, we will see a reduction in advertising inventory across the network in line with TRAI regulations. We are in the process of negotiations with advertisers and are confident that this will not have any major impact on revenue monetization. Digitisation will lead to fragmentation of audiences. At Zeel, we believe that this creates a huge opportunity to create new products for specific segments, which will allow us to monetise this opportunity, both from advertising and subscription standpoint. Therefore, we continue to innovate in terms of our format and content,” added Goenka.

  • Sri Adhikari Brothers PAT q-o-q jumps 25 per cent in Q2-2014

    Sri Adhikari Brothers PAT q-o-q jumps 25 per cent in Q2-2014

    BENGALURU: Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Limited (Sri Adhikari Brothers) reported a PAT of Rs 2.28 crore for Q2-2013, 24.6 per cent higher than the q-o-q PAT of Rs1.83 crore for Q1-2014.But Q2-2014 PAT dropped by 13 per cent as compared to the y-o-y PAT of Rs 2.62 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year (Q2-2013). The content provider had reported a loss of Rs 3.02 crore for Q4-2013.

    Net Sales/Income from operations for Q2-2014 at Rs 18.13 crore was 3.5 per cent higher than the Rs 17.52 crore for the trailing quarter (Q1-2014) and 29 per cent higher than the Rs 14.05 crore for Q2-2013.

    Let us look at the other results reported by Sri Adhikari Brothers for Q2-2014.

    Earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes (EBIDT) for Q2-2014 at Rs 5.04 crore was 10.7 per cent more than the Rs 4.56 crore for Q1-2014, but 15.8 per cent less than the EBIDT of Rs 5.99 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year.

    Sri Adhikari Brothers’ total expenditure for Q2-2014 at Rs 15.42 crore was about 0.9 per cent more than the Rs15.28 crore for Q1-2014 and 38.4 per cent more than the Rs 11.14 crore for Q2-2013.

    Production/direct expenditure for Q2-2014 at Rs 11.07 crore was 3.7 per cent more than the Rs 10.68 crore for Q1-2014 and 48.8 per cent more than the Rs 7.44 crore for Q2-2013.

    Other expenditure at Rs 1.67 crore for Q2-2014 was 13.4 per cent lower than the Rs 1.93 crore for Q1-2014 and 40.4 per cent more than the Rs 1.19 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year.

    Depreciation was almost flat for the three quarters – Rs 2.32 crore for Q2-2014, Rs 2.30 crore for Q1-2014 and Rs 2.36 crore for Q2-2013.

    Interest and finance charge for Q2-2014 at Rs 0.4437 crore was 4.6 per cent higher than the Rs 0.4241 crore for Q1-2014 and less than half (41.4 per cent) of the Rs 1.0223 crore q-o-q.

    Notes: (1) In the AGM held on 27 September 2013, the company declared and paid final dividend at the rate of Rs 0.60 per equity share of Rs 10 each aggregating to Rs 1.4967 crore

    (2) Provision for tax and deferred tax as applicable will be considered by the company at the end of the financial year

  • DB Corp and its radio business report good performance in Q2-2014, H1-2014

    DB Corp and its radio business report good performance in Q2-2014, H1-2014

    BENGALURU: DB Corp Limited (DBCL), home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Dainik Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar reported a good result for Q2-2014 and (Half Yearly) HY1-2014. Its total revenue has shown a growth of approximately 16 per cent y-o-y to Rs 441.8 crore in Q2-2014 against Rs 382.3 crore of Q2-2013. However, its income from operations in Q2-2014 at Rs 434.07 crore was 2.7 per cent lower that the Rs 446.15 crore in the preceding quarter Q1-2014.  

     

    Consolidated total revenue for HY1-2014 increased by 17 per cent to Rs 895.8 crore from Rs 763.8 crore in HY1-2013; Consolidated advertising revenue grew by 19 per cent in HY1-2014 to Rs 674.4 crore as against Rs 568.8 crore in HY1-2013.

     

    DBCL achieved consolidated EBIDTA margin of 28 per cent in HY1-2014 at Rs 248.9 crore registering a y-o-y growth of 44 per cent. Consolidated PAT margin at 15 per cent at Rs 13.63 crore registered a growth of 48 per cent on y-o-y basis.

     

    DB Corp’s radio business comprises of the brand “My FM” Radio station in seven states and 17 cities. Like last quarter (Q1-2104), it’s radio business advertising revenue which contributed to less than four per cent to the overall revenue, grew by 14 per cent to Rs 17.5 crore in Q2-2014, against Rs 15.4 crore in Q2 -2013. Last quarter (Q1-2014), its radio business reported advertising revenue of Rs17.3 crore. DB Corp’s radio business in Q2-2014 achieved PAT of Rs 1.9 crore, lower by 21 per cent than the PAT reported for the immediate last quarter’s (Q1-2014) Rs 2.4 crore. Its radio business EBIDTA stands at Rs 5.6 crore in Q2-2014.

     

     Let us take a look the other Q2-2014 results of DB Corp

     

    Overall, revenue from advertising reported a growth of about 17 per cent in Q2-2014 to Rs 329.7 from Rs 282.6 crore in Q2-2013. Its advertising revenue for Q2-2014 was about 4.4 per cent lower than the Rs 344.7 crore reported in the preceding quarter Q1-2014.

     

    DBCL’s total expense for Q2-2014 at Rs 340.3 crore was 13.2 per cent more than the Rs 300.6 crore for Q2-2013 and 4.4 per cent higher than Rs 325.91 crore for Q1-2014. Increase in raw material cost and other expense were the major reasons for the increase in DBCL’s expense. Higher raw material consumption cost at Rs 150.36 crore in Q2-2014 was higher by 13.4 per cent as compared to Rs 132.54 crore in Q2-2013 and 5.1 per cent higher than Rs 143.06 crore in Q1-2014. Other expense at Rs 102.5 crore 17.8 per cent higher than the Rs 87 crore for Q2-2013 and was five per cent higher than Rs 97.7 crore in Q1-2014.

     

    DBCL reported EBIDTA for Q2-2014 at Rs 111.6 crore (margin at 25 per cent), against Rs 90.1 crore, in Q2 -2013, registering a growth of 24 per cent y-o-y. The company says that this factors one time preoperative expenses of Rs 2 crore on the launch of Akola, Amravati in Maharashtra and Patna in Bihar and impact of forex (foreign exchange) loss of Rs 4.763 crore. Excluding the forex gain/ loss, EBIDTA has grown 36 per cent y-o-y from Rs 85.3 crore to Rs 116.3 crore. DBCL’s EBIDTA margins stand at 26 per cent on a stand-alone basis at Rs 113.4 crore.

     

    The company reported PAT for Q2-2014 at Rs 60.2 crore against Rs 48.6 crore in Q2-2013, showing growth of 24 per cent y-o-y. The same factors one-time pre-operative expenses of Rs 2 crore for Akola-Amravati and Patna launch as well as forex loss of Rs 5.712 crore. Excluding forex gain/loss, PAT has grown 50 per cent y-o-y from Rs 43.9 crore to Rs 65.9 crore.

     

    Its Print business reported PAT at Rs 60.2 crore (14.3 per cent PAT margin), after considering forex loss of Rs 5.79 crore.

     

    DB Corp managing director Sudhir Agarwal said: “We maintain our brand equity and leadership position in all our major markets and have made noteworthy progress in our performance in emerging editions particularly in Maharashtra where we have been vigorously driving in-market execution. We continue to actively explore expansion opportunities, as this quarter we launched our 7th edition of Divya Marathi from Amravati – a region with significant potential – high literacy rate and a rapidly developing workforce. We are excited and look forward to another challenging launch of Dainik Bhaskar’s Patna edition, which is on the anvil for this fiscal. Our digital platforms have been reporting consistent growth driven by strong viewer engagement strategies.”

     

    “In the context of a variable economic operating environment, it has been our compelling focus on operational fundamentals that have guided us to consistently report healthy performance. We are of the view that the GDP growth seems to have bottomed out and in light of various steps taken to sharpen our execution strengths, DBCL continues to be well placed to capitalise on the consumption potential of the Tier 2 and 3 cities as we look towards an improved domestic economic environment,” he added.