ITV

Category: iWorld

  • ‘Bangistan’ signs hotstar as digital partner

    ‘Bangistan’ signs hotstar as digital partner

    MUMBAI: After Tanu Weds Manu Returns and the multi-starrer hit Dil Dhadakne Do, the forthcoming comic caper Bangistan has signed Star India’s over-the-top (OTT) platform hotstar as digital partner.

     

    The partnership will encompass the movie’s marketing initiatives ahead of its nationwide release on 7 August. 

     

    Using innovative and entertaining content as a means of promoting awareness and expectation for itself, Bangistan has shot wacky videos featuring its lead actors, Riteish Deshmukh and Pulkit Samrat in conversation and demonstrations with Cyrus Sahukar. The tongue-in-cheek videos range from a class in homegrown bomb-making, a discussion on the alphabets taught to trainee terrorists, and windows into their funny lifestyles and priorities in the back of beyond.

     

    These episodes are available only on hotstar, to promote Bangistan. The videos were created in sync with the personality of the film. Bangistan is also using theme driven promotion to connect with evolved and connected movie lovers, who consume a majority of their entertainment dose through the digital platform.

  • YuppTV takes three Sony channels to Singapore market

    YuppTV takes three Sony channels to Singapore market

    MUMBAI: As part of its endeavor to provide TV viewers globally with Indian TV soaps and serials, YuppTV – the subscription-based internet TV provider, has launched Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) three Hindi channels in Singapore. 

     

    The channels are the Hindi general entertainment channels (GEC) Sony Entertainment TV and Sab as well as movies and special events channel Max.

     

    With this move, YuppTV has strengthened its offering in the Singapore region. YuppTV delivers 200+ Indian TV channels worldwide in 13 Indian languages, as Live TV.

     

    “Meeting the high demand for Indian television offerings, we are pleased to take three of India’s most popular channels to the TV viewers in Singapore. We are confident that the Indian Diaspora will be delighted to watch their favourite shows on Sony Entertainment Television, SET Max and SAB. The premium content that YuppTV is offering to the viewers across the world continues to grow and expand its scope as we add leading channels to our catalogue. This launch we trust will be the source of much pleasure to viewers across Singapore,” said YuppTV CEO Uday Reddy.

  • Q2-2015: Twitter sees 61% revenue growth, ad revenue up 63.2%

    Q2-2015: Twitter sees 61% revenue growth, ad revenue up 63.2%

    BENGALURU: Twitter, Inc. reported 60.9 per cent growth in revenue for the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q2-2015) at $502.38 million as compared to the $312.17 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Excluding the impact of year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue would have increased 68 per cent says Twitter.Advertising revenue increased 63.2 per cent to $452 million as compared to $277 million in Q2-2014.

     

    GAAP net loss of $136.66 million in Q2-2015 was lower than the net loss of $144.64 million in Q2-2014, while non-GAAP income in the current quarter was $48.52 million as compared to the $14.60 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Adjusted EBIDTA for Q2-2015 at $120.19 million more than doubled (up 2.2 times) as compared to the $54.13 million in Q2-2014.

     

    “Our Q2 results show good progress in monetization, but we are not satisfied with our growth in audience. However, product initiatives we’ve mentioned in previous earnings calls, like instant timelines and logged-out experiences, have not yet had meaningful impact on growing our audience or participation. This is unacceptable and we’re not happy about it. In order to realize Twitter’s full potential, we must improve in three key areas: ensure more disciplined execution, simplify our service to deliver Twitter’s value faster, and better communicate that value,” said Twitter interim CEO Jack Dorsey.

     

    YTD, Twitter’s revenue increased 66.6 per cent to $938 million in Q2-2015 from $563 million in the six month period ended 30 June, 2014 (6M-2014). Ad revenue in 6M-2015 increased 67 per cent to $840 million as compared to the $503 million in 6M-2014. GAAP Net loss in 6M-2015 increased to $299.10 million as compared to the net loss of $277 million in the corresponding period of last year. Non GAAP net income in 6M-2015 increased to $95.03 million as compared to the $14.80 million in 6M-2014. YTD EBIDTA increased to $224.21 million as compared to the $91.08 million in 6M-2014.

     

    Twitter says that Monthly Active Users – Average Monthly Active Users (MAUs) were 316 million for Q2-2015, up 15 per cent y-o-y, and compared to 308 million in Q1-2015. The vast majority of MAUs added in the quarter on a sequential basis came from SMS Fast Followers. Excluding SMS Fast Followers, MAUs were 304 million for Q2-2015, up 12 per cent y-o-y, and compared to 302 million in Q1-2015. Mobile MAUs represented approximately 80 per cent of total MAUs.

     

    In Q2-2015, Twitter launched a new autoplay feature for native videos, Vines and GIFs, as well as Periscope live video streaming on Android.

  • FY-2015: Subscription growth leads Sky revenue growth of 4.7%; EPS declines 2%

    FY-2015: Subscription growth leads Sky revenue growth of 4.7%; EPS declines 2%

    BENGALURU: London, UK headquartered pan-European satellite broadcasting, on-demand Internet streaming media, broadband and telephone services company Sky reported 4.7 per cent broad based total adjusted revenue growth for the year ended 30 June, 2015 (FY-2015) at ?11,2083 million as compared to the ?10,776 million in the previous year (FY-2014). Subscription is the biggest contributor to Sky’s revenue. The group’s revenue growth in the current year was led by a 4.6 per cent increment in adjusted subscription revenue at ?9697 million (85.9 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?9272 million (86 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2014.

     

    Across its five territories (UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy), the group reported 973,000 new customer additions in FY-2015, 45 per cent more than previous year, and 158,000 new customers in Q4-2015. Subscription revenue growth was underpinned by excellent customer growth across the group and strong product growth of 4.6 million (829,000 in Q4-2015), with the largest proportion of revenue growth continuing to be delivered through the UK where revenues were up over ?300 million. Alongside this, the group’s best year of customer growth in Germany drove a 10 per cent increase in subscription revenues, whilst Italy held total customers and revenue flat.

     

    Other segments

     

    Sky’s advertising revenue in FY-2015 grew 3.8 per cent to ?716 million (6.3 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?690 million (6.4 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2014. Sky attributes growth in advertising revenues with Germany delivering growth of 26 per cent through higher sellout rates and increased inventory around Bundesliga. Advertising revenues in the UK grew strongly, up five per cent, due to the benefit of incremental AdSmart revenues combined with Sky Media increasing their share of net advertising revenue by almost 170 basis points, whilst advertising revenue was down in Italy as we lapped the €27 million benefit of the FIFA World Cup revenues in Q4 last year.

     

    Transactional revenue increased 21.8 per cent to ?173 million (1.8 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2015 as compared to the ?142 million (1.3 per cent of total revenue) in the previous fiscal. Sky says that it benefited from the success of its Buy and Keep service, which surpassed weekly revenue of ?1 million in Q4-2015, and NOW TV transactions, which totaled almost 1.5 million over the past twelve months.

     

    Sky’s wholesale and syndication revenue in the current year increased 5 per cent to ?550 million (4.9 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?524 million (5 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2014. Sky says that growth was largely driven by continued growth in the UK where revenues were up 19 per cent as success on screen led to more favourable terms for our channels with wholesale partners. Alongside this, revenues were strong through the distribution of our programming internationally and the first time consolidation of Znak&Jones and Love Productions. In Italy, underlying wholesale revenues were broadly flat year on year (excluding the benefit in the prior year from Champions League resale revenues), whilst revenues in Germany were slightly down following the successful migration of former Deutsche Telekom wholesale customers to a retail relationship in the prior year.

     

    Other revenue was almost flat (declined fractionally) to ?147 million (1.3 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?148 million (1.37 per cent of total revenue) in the previous year.

     

    Adjusted profit before tax increased 5.9 per cent to ?1196 million as compared to ?1129 million in FY-2014. Adjusted EPS declined 1.9 per cent to 56p as compared to the 57.1p in the previous year

  • Q2-2015: Facebook Ad revenue up 43 percent

    Q2-2015: Facebook Ad revenue up 43 percent

    BENGALURU: The Mark Zuckerberg led Facebook, Inc (Facebook) reported a 43 per cent increase in advertisement revenue in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q2-2015) at $3287 million (94.7 per cent of Total Revenue or TR) as compared to the $2676 million (92 per cent of TR) in Q2-2014 and a 15.3 per cent increase as compared to the $4420 million (93.6 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015. As is obvious, advertising revenue, which in any case formed the biggest component of TR is increasing its share of TR even more. Facebook offered fresh evidence of its allure to deep-pocketed big brands, as it and Google Inc., increasingly take the lion’s share of the fast-growing mobile advertising market says a Wall Street Journal report. (http://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-revenue-rises-39-1438200350). Please refer to Fig A below.

    TR in the current quarter improved by 38.9 per cent to $4042 million as compared to the $2910 million in the corresponding year ago quarter and increased 14 per cent as compared to the $3546 million in Q1-2015, which had seen q-o-q revenues dip. 

    A digression here – over the past few years, Facebook revenues (led by Ad revenue) trend to dip in the first quarter of the year. This could potentially lead to advertisers asking for, and with a higher chance of Facebook accepting/offering discounts in the first quarter of each year.

    For the six month period ended 30 June, 2015 (6M-2015, YTD), TR increased 40.2 per cent to $7586 million as compared to the $5412 million in 6M-2015. Ad revenue in 6M-2015 was up 45 per cent to $7147 million (94.2 per cent of TR) as compared to the $4941 million (91.3 per cent of TR) in the corresponding year ago period.

    Mobile Ad revenue share has been increasing in Facebook’s Ad and TR. Mobile Ad revenue represented approximately 76 per cent of advertising revenue for Q2-2015, up from approximately 62 per cent of advertising revenue in Q2-2014 and approximately 73 per cent in the immediate trailing quarter. Please refer to Fig B below.

    User Data

    Daily active users (DAUs) – DAUs were 96.8 million on average for June 2015, an increase of 17 per cent y-o-y.

    Mobile DAUs – Mobile DAUs were 84.4 million on average for June 2015, an increase of 29 per cent y-o-y.

    Monthly active users (MAUs) – MAUs were 1.49 billion as of 30 June, 2015, an increase of 13 per cent y-o-y.

    Mobile MAUs – Mobile MAUs were 1.31 billion as of 30 June, 2015, an increase of 23 per cent y-o-y.

    “This was another strong quarter for our community,” said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Engagement across our family of apps keeps growing, and we remain focused on improving the quality of our services. Users now spend more than 46 minutes a day on average on Facebook and its other properties, including Facebook Messenger and photo-sharing app Instagram “.

    The company’s income however did not keep up with the growth in revenue. Operating Income declined 8.4 per cent to $1273 million (31.5 per cent margin) as compared to the $1390 million (47.8 per cent margin) in Q2-2014, but improved 36.34 per cent q-o-q from $933 million (26.3 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Net income in the current quarter also declined 9.1 per cent to $719 million (17.8 per cent) as compared to the $791 million (27.2 per cent margin) in Q2-2014, but improved by 40.4 per cent as compared to the $512 million in the immediate trailing quarter. Please refer to Fig C below.

  • OTT platform Sony Liv produces music for ‘Indian Idol Junior 2’

    OTT platform Sony Liv produces music for ‘Indian Idol Junior 2’

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) digital video entertainment brand, Sony Liv has created and produced a musical number for Indian Idol Junior 2.

     

    The song, titled ‘Choona Hai Hume Aasman’ has been sung by the young contestants of the musical reality show. This makes Sony Liv become the first over-the-top (OTT) video on demand (VOD) platform to create and produce a musical composition.

      

    MSM executive vice president and business head – digital entertainment Uday Sodhi said, “We are thrilled at maintaining our position of being pioneers in the industry. With this beautiful melody, Sony Liv becomes the first digital OTT platform to foray into original production. The song dovetails perfectly with the spirit of Indian Idol Junior. “Choona Hai Hume Aasman” underlines the ambition and excellence that a show such as this propels the young participants to strive towards new heights. Our endeavor is to cultivate a deep connection with our viewers by constantly innovating and providing them entertainment through a variety of media and formats and continue to invest into fresh talent and make them popular on the Digital platform supported by our mainline partners.”


    Sony Liv is also the exclusive voting platform for Indian Idol Junior Season 2, besides hosting its digital telecast.

  • YRF partners Snapdeal to launch home decor merchandise

    YRF partners Snapdeal to launch home decor merchandise

    MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films (YRF) has launched its latest official Home Décor Merchandise Collection on Snapdeal.

     

    Snapdeal will now showcase ‘The BollyHome Project’ by YRF featuring more than 100 products including cushion covers, bean bags, stationary products, posters, coffee mugs and a host of other home décor products.

     

    The collection is inspired by YRF classics such as Silsila, Dil To Pagal Hai, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge as well as recent hits like Rocket Singh, Band Baaja Baaraat and Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The products will be featured on the dedicated YRF store on Snapdeal (http://yrf.snapdeal.com/).

     

    YRF vice president – marketing and merchandising Manan Mehta said, “Through this collaboration with Snapdeal, YRF can now reach it’s consumers at their doorstep. We constantly work towards engaging our communities in exciting ways and now the Bollywood inspired Home Décor collection will provide a YRF brand experience for one and all! And who better than a partner like Snapdeal.”

     

    “We are constantly looking to bring on-board brands on our platform that customers associate with closely. We are extremely thrilled to bring to our customers Bollywood inspired home décor and furnishing options in partnership with Yash Raj Films Licensing, a pioneer in Bollywood merchandise,” added Snapdeal head of strategic partnerships Vibhu Arya.

  • AT&T – DirecTV’s $48.5 billion merger gets FCC nod

    AT&T – DirecTV’s $48.5 billion merger gets FCC nod

    MUMBAI: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted the approval of the transfer of control of licenses and authorizations from DirecTV to AT&T Inc. 

     

    The approval will allow AT&T to acquire DirecTV for a sum of $48.5 billion and merge the two companies into one combined entity. 

     

    FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said that he had approved the deal with certain conditions, which are applicable for the next four years. 

     

    The newly combined company – the largest pay TV provider in the United States and the world – will offer millions of people more choices for video entertainment on any screen from almost anywhere, any time. 

     

    “Combining DirecTV with AT&T is all about giving customers more choices for great video entertainment integrated with mobile and high-speed Internet service. We’ll now be able to meet consumers’ future entertainment preferences, whether they want traditional TV service with premier programming, their favorite content on a mobile device, or video streamed over the Internet to any screen. This transaction allows us to significantly expand our high-speed Internet service to reach millions more households, which is a perfect complement to our coast-to-coast TV and mobile coverage,” Stephenson said. “We’re now a fundamentally different company with a diversified set of capabilities and businesses that set us apart from the competition,” said AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. 

     

    AT&T now is the largest pay TV provider in the US and the world, providing service to more than 26 million customers in the US and more than 191 million customers in Latin America, including Mexico and the Caribbean. Additionally, AT&T has more than 132 million wireless subscribers and connections in the US and Mexico; offers 4G LTE mobile coverage to nearly 310 million people in the US; covers 57 million US customer locations with high-speed Internet; and has nearly 16 million subscribers to its high-speed Internet service. 

     

    Current customers of AT&T and DirecTV do not need to do anything as a result of the merger. They’ll continue to receive their same services, channel lineups, and customer care. The integration of AT&T and DirecTV will occur over the coming months. In the coming weeks, AT&T will launch new integrated TV, mobile and high-speed Internet offers that give customers greater value and convenience. 

     

    With the completion of its DirecTV acquisition, AT&T will continue to deploy its all-fiber GigaPower Internet access service – the company’s highest-speed Internet service, which allows you to download a TV show in as little as three seconds. When the expansion is complete, AT&T’s all-fiber broadband footprint will reach more than 14 million customer locations. 

     

    AT&T also announced that John Stankey will be CEO of AT&T Entertainment & Internet Services, responsible for leading its combined DirecTV and AT&T Home Solutions operations. Stankey will report to Stephenson. DirecTV president, chairman and CEO Mike White will now retire. 

     

    “Mike is one of the world’s top CEOs and a great leader who built DirecTV into a premier TV and video entertainment company spanning the US and Latin America. He has been a terrific partner and friend, and his legacy will be an important part of our combined company,” Stephenson said. 

     

    AT&T is also developing unique video offerings for consumers through, among other initiatives, its Otter Media joint venture with The Chernin Group. The joint venture was established to invest in, acquire and launch over-the-top (OTT) video services. This includes its purchase of a majority stake in Fullscreen, a global online media company that works with more than 50,000 content creators who engage 450 million subscribers and generate 4 billion monthly views. 

     

    Under the terms of the merger, DirecTV shareholders received 1.892 shares of AT&T common stock, in addition to $28.50 in cash, per share of DirecTV. 

     

    The DirecTV acquisition significantly diversifies AT&T’s revenue mix, products, geographies and customer bases. As a result of this acquisition, as well as AT&T’s acquisition of Iusacell and Nextel Mexico, AT&T expects that, by the end of 2015, its largest revenue streams will be, in descending order: Business Solutions (both wireless and wireline); Entertainment & Internet; Consumer Mobility; and International Mobility and Video. 

     

    As part of FCC’s approval of the transaction, AT&T has agreed to the following conditions for the next four years: 

     

    1) Within four years, AT&T will offer its all-fiber Internet access service to at least 12.5 million customer locations, such as residences, home offices and very small businesses. Combined with AT&T’s existing high-speed broadband network, at least 25.7 million customer locations will have access to broadband speeds of 45Mbps or higher. 

     

    2) Within its wireline footprint, the company will offer 1Gbps service to any eligible school or library requesting E-rate services, pursuant to applicable rules, within the company’s all-fiber footprint. 

     

    3) Within AT&T’s 21-state wireline footprint, it will offer discounted fixed broadband service to low-income households that qualify for the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In locations where it’s available, service with speeds of at least 10Mbps will be offered for $10 per month. Elsewhere, 5Mbps service will be offered for $10 per month or, in some locations, 3Mbps service will be offered for $5 per month. 

     

    4) AT&T’s retail terms and conditions for its fixed broadband Internet services will not favor its own online video programming services. AT&T can and will, however, continue to offer discounted integrated bundles of its video and high-speed Internet services. 

     

    5) AT&T must submit to the FCC new interconnection agreements it enters into with peering networks and on-net customers for the exchange of Internet traffic. The company will develop, in conjunction with an independent expert, a methodology for measuring the performance of its Internet traffic exchange and regularly report these metrics to the FCC. 

     

    6) AT&T will appoint a Company Compliance Officer to develop and implement a plan to ensure compliance with these merger conditions. Also, the company will engage an independent, third-party compliance officer to evaluate the plan and its implementation, and submit periodic reports to the FCC.

  • Vodafone revenue down 0.9%; India revenue up 6.9%, leads growth

    Vodafone revenue down 0.9%; India revenue up 6.9%, leads growth

    BENGALURU: The Vodafone Group reported resurgence in the Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific region (AMAP), with Turkey showing a 15 per cent y-o-y organic growth followed by India with 6.9 per cent organic growth. The Group’s reported service revenue declined 2.9 per cent y-o-y to €9169 million, while growing organically by 2.9 per cent.

     

    Note: Organic growth presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates.

     

    The Group’s India reported service revenue grew by 10.6 per cent to €1133 million in Q1-2016 as compared to the €1024 million in Q1-2015 on with continued customer base growth and acceleration in the take-up of 3G offsetting continued pressure on voice pricing.

     

    Also, data revenue in India grew 65 per cent supported by the addition of 3.1 million new data customers, taking the total to 66.8 million. Vodafone says that smartphone penetration in India is now 26 per cent across the country and 47 per cent in the four metro circles and now has 22 million 3G customers compared to 10 million a year ago.

     

    The Group says that while total voice traffic continues to grow, the outgoing rate per minute has continued to decline, reflecting increased competition. The average minutes of use per customer is lower than a year ago but has increased slightly compared to the previous quarter. Total mobile customers increased 1.6 million giving a closing customer base of 185.4 million.

     

    Further, the Group informs that the progress on Project Spring in India remains strong with 1,000 2G sites and 1,100 3G sites added in the quarter (14,000 2G and 21,000 3G since the build commenced), taking Vodafone India’s 3G outdoor population coverage in targeted urban areas to 91 per cent. Vodafone India is now trialing 4G services across selected areas and continues to expand its M-Pesa service and now has 501,000 active customers supported by 94,000 agents.

     

    Q-o-q, Vodafone India led subscriber base growth with an increase of 0.86 per cent to 185.384 million with net post-paid (contract) additions of 449,000 and net prepaid additions of 1.132 million as compared to the 183.803 million in Q4-2015.

     

    Overall, Vodafone Group’s subscriber base grew 0.75 per cent to 449.193 million with 1.296 million post-paid and 2.111 million prepaid customers as compared to the 445.836 million in Q4-2015.

     

    Vodafone Group’s AMAP region continues to grow strongly, with organic service revenue increasing 6.1 per cent (Q4: 5.8 per cent) with growth in all major markets. Excluding the impact of MTR (Mobile Termination rates are the charges which one telecommunications operator charges to another for terminating calls on its network) cuts, organic service revenue increased 7.7 per cent (Q4: 7.3 per cent). The region continues to see strong customer growth, with 4.3 million added in the quarter, and an increasing number of the Group’s customers are now using data, with 6.6 million active data users added in the quarter. Customer usage continues to grow throughout the region, with voice and data usage up 7 per cent and 97 per cent respectively. Total AMP revenue increased 5.5 per cent, including a 2.5 percentage point adverse impact from foreign exchange movements.

     

    Europe reported and organic revenues declined y-o-y by 6.2 and 1.5 per cent respectively. The Vodafone Group reported revenue declined 0.9 per cent in Q1-2016 (Quarter ended 30 June, 2015) to €10113 million, while organic revenue grew 3.3 per cent.

     

    Vodafone’s Europe reported revenue declined 3.1 per cent to €6501 million, but grew organically by 1.1 per cent as compared to the €6768 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. As mentioned above, Europe’s reported and organic service revenue declined by 6.2 and 1.5 per cent respectively to €5793 million in Q1-2016 as compared to the €6367 million in Q1-2015.

     

    Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao said, “We have made a good start to the year. Our emerging markets have maintained their strong momentum and more of our European businesses are returning to growth, as customer demand for 4G and data takes off. We continue to hit our Project Spring build milestones and customers are beginning to value the improvement in service that is resulting: contract churn in Europe is now falling and mobile ARPU trends are stabilising in a number of key markets. Our other key growth areas – unified communications and enterprise – are performing strongly, benefiting from the increased capabilities and footprint that our higher levels of investment are delivering. However, our markets are, as always, highly competitive and we therefore have to remain very focused on efficiency, cost control, and excellent value and service to customers, while continuing to deliver a good return for shareholders.”

  • Amazon.com to ‘double down’ on India ops; sales up 20% to $23 billion

    Amazon.com to ‘double down’ on India ops; sales up 20% to $23 billion

    MUMBAI: Amazon.com has reiterated that it will continue to double down on its India operations, which is its fastest growing geography. Amazon India remains the company’s fastest growing geography in sales, and India’s online store is the largest with over 25 million products.

     

    In its financial results for its second quarter ended 30 June, 2015, Amazon.com’s net sales increased 20 per cent to $23.18 billion, compared with $19.34 billion in second quarter 2014. Excluding the $1.39 billion unfavourable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 27 per cent compared to second quarter 2014. Operating income was $464 million in the second quarter, compared with operating loss of $15 million in second quarter 2014.

     

    Net income was $92 million in the second quarter, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with net loss of $126 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, in second quarter 2014.

     

    Amazon’s operating cash flow increased 69 per cent to $8.98 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $5.33 billion for the trailing twelve months ended 30 June, 2014. Free cash flow increased to $4.37 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.04 billion for the trailing twelve months ended 30 June, 2014.

     

    In India, Amazon launched the Global Selling Program for sellers, which enables them to access hundreds of millions of customers around the world. The Indian portal (Amazon.in) also introduced Sunday delivery across 100 cities in India for all FBA products at no additional cost. Moreover, Amazon Web Services (AWS) will also open a new region in India in 2016, which will enable customers to run workloads in India and serve Indian end-users with even better latency.

     

    Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said, “The teams at Amazon have been working hard for customers. We unveiled Amazon Business, opened Amazon Mexico, launched Prime free same-day, rolled out our ninth Prime Now city, broke our Black Friday record with the first-ever Prime Day, received 11 Emmy nominations for Transparent, debuted six new kids pilots, brought Echo to general availability, introduced the Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice Service, opened FBA Small and Light, continued to double down on our fastest growing geography — India, launched 350 significant AWS features and services so far this year (ahead of last year’s pace), introduced AWS Educate, and entered into agreements for new solar and wind farms — enough to exceed our 2016 goal of 40 per cent renewable energy.”