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Tag: Airtel Digital TV Services

  • Airtel Digital TV revenue and profit up as Bharti Airtel reports record loss

    Airtel Digital TV revenue and profit up as Bharti Airtel reports record loss

    BENGALURU: Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel reported 17 percent y-o-y increase in revenue for its Digital TV Services for the quarter ended 30 September 2019 (Q2 2020, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year-ago quarter Q2 2019. The company says that with the adoption of IndAS 116, effective 1 April 2019, the results and ratios of periods commencing 1 April  2019 are not comparable with previous periods.

    Further, pursuant to reporting changes in DTH effective April 1, 2019 (content cost becoming a Pass through expense) on comparable basis, the y-o-y revenue growth for the period ended 30 Sep 2019 is 17 percent (Quarter ended) and 16 percent (six months ended). EBITDA/ Total revenues is 43.3 percent for the quarter ended 30 Sep 2019 and 42.8 percent for the six months ended 30 Sep 2019 adjusting for the reporting changes.

    Without taking into accounting the adoption of IndAS 116, Airtel’s Digital Services revenue declined 22.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 789.3 crore in Q2 2020 from Rs 1,024.2 crore. Operating profit or EBIDTA for Airtel’s Digital TV Services increased 41.6 percent y-o-y in Q2 2020 to Rs 560.7 crore from Rs 396 crore. EBIT for the period under review increased 70 percent y-o-y to Rs 3,243 crore from Rs 1,905 crore.

    The company reported 14.2 percent increase in capex for Q2 2020 at Rs 205.2 crore as compared to Rs 179.7 crore in Q2 2019.

    Digital TV Services subscription numbers

    Airtel Digital TV Services subscribers increased 9.7 percent y-o-y in Q2 2020 to 1.62 crore from 1.48 crore in Q2 2019. Airtel Digital TV Services had 1.6 crore subscribers in the immediate trailing quarter Q1 2018. The company reported net additions of 181,000 Digital TV subscribers in Q2 2020. Average revenue per user (ARPU) in Q2 2020 increased to Rs 162 from Rs 157 in the immediate trailing quarter, but was far lower than the Rs 232 in Q2 2019. In US$ terms, the company reported ARPU of $2.3, $2.2 and $3.3 for Q2 2020, Q1 2020 and Q2 2019 respectively. Monthly churn in Q2 2020 was higher at 1.6 percent as compared to 1.0 percent in the immediate trailing quarter Q1 2020 and 1.3 percent in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Bharti Airtel Numbers

    Bharti Airtel consolidated revenues for Q2 2020 at Rs 21,131 crore grew 6.9 percent y-o-y (reported increase of 4.9Percent) on an underlying basis. India revenues for Q2 2020 at Rs 15,361 crore increased by 5.7 y-o-y (reported increase of 3.0percent) on an underlying basis. Mobile revenues witnessed a y-o-y growth of 7.1 percent. Mobile data traffic has nearly doubled to 4,497 PBs in the quarter as compared to 2,478 PBs in the corresponding quarter last year. Mobile 4G data customers increased by 56.9 percent to 10.31 crore from 6.57 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Digital TV revenue witnessed a growth of 17.1 percent y-o-y on an underlying basis (decline of 22.9 percent on reported basis due to reporting changes in DTH pursuant to the new tariff order). Airtel Business has sustained its performance on ay-o-y basis.

    Bharti Airtel’s consolidated EBITDA at Rs 8,936 crore increased 40.9 percent y-o-y. Consolidated EBITDA margin increased by 10.8 percent to 42.3 percent in the quarter as compared to 31.5 percent in the corresponding quarter last year. Consolidated EBIT increased by 85.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,993 crore. Consolidated Net Loss before exceptional items for the quarter was  Rs 1,123 crore. The consolidated net loss after exceptional items for the quarter was Rs 23,045 crore.

    Company Speak

    Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said in a press release, “Despite being a seasonally weak quarter, we witnessed positive revenue growth in Q2 on the back of various initiatives aimed at providing superior differential services through our Thanks platform. We continue to witness strong data traffic growth of approximately 81 percent y-o-y and added about 0.8 crore 4G customers on our network during the quarter. We remain committed to strengthening our network and providing a superior experience to our customers. On the AGR verdict of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, we continue to engage with the government and are evaluating various options available to us. We are hopeful that the government will take a considerate view in this matte given the fragile state of the industry.”

  • Airtel mobile & DTH subs up, Jio-hit data customers & rev drop

    BENGALURU: Saying that Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), once touted as the largest cellular operator in the country both in terms of revenue as well as subscriber numbers, has had a tough battle with Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm would be making an understatement. Ambani’s largest startup in the world ever has given a run for the money to all its telecom and internet services provider peers in the country.

    As on 31 March 2017 (Q4-17, FY-17 – quarter and year ended 31 March 2017), the company had 273.6 million (27.36 crore) GSM customers in India as compared to 251.2 million (25.12 crore) in previous year, an increase of 8.9 percent. DTH subscribers for Airtel’s Digital TV Services segment (Airtel DTH) increased 9.3 percent to 12.815 million (1.2815 crore) at the end of the FY-17 from 11.725 million (1.1725 crore) at the end of FY-16. The company had 57.4 million (5.74 crore) data customers (21.0 percent of total customers) as on March 31, 2017, representing a decline of 1.5 percent as compared to 58.2 million (5.82 crore) (23.2 percent of total customers) at the end of the previous year.

    The total MBs on the network for the full year FY-17 increased by 47.3 percent to 733.1 billion (733,100 crore) MBs as compared to 497.7 billion (497,700 crore) MBs in the previous year. Mobile Data usage per customer for the full year FY-17 witnessed an increase of 31.0 percent to 1,049 MBs per month as compared to 801 MBs in the previous year. Data ARPU decreased by 4.5 percent to Rs 185 during Fy-17 from Rs 194 in the previous year.

    Revenue from operations (operating revenue) declined 12.1 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 2,193.46 crore in Q4-17 from Rs 2,495.96 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. FY-17 operating revenue declined 1.1 percent to Rs 95,468.3 crore from Rs 96532.1 crore in the previous year. PAT for Q4-17 declined 69.2 percent to Rs 470.6 percent (2.1 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 1,462 crore (5.7 percent of operating revenue) in Q4-16. PAT for FY-17 declined 38.5 percent to Rs 4,241.4 crore (4.4 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 6,893 crore (7.1 percent of operating revenue).

    In its earnings statement, Airtel’s MD and CEO, India & South Asia Gopal Vittal said, “The sustained predatory pricing by the new operator has led to a decline in revenue growth for the second quarter in a row. The telecom industry as a whole also witnessed a revenue decline for the first time ever on a full year basis. The deteriorating health of the industry was compounded by the tsunami of incoming voice traffic from the new operator as a result of which significant investments had to be made just to carry the incoming traffic on our network. The net result of this was a revenue decline of 7.1 percent in Q4 even as EBITDA margins eroded by 2.9 percent. FY-17 saw a muted top line growth of 3.6 percent vs the double digit growth witnessed in preceding years.

    Our long term commitment to provide the best experience to our customers continues to drive all our actions in every single aspect of the business. This belief coupled with brilliant execution of our people has led to acceleration in market share in an industry that is now rapidly consolidating,” he added.

    Airtel’s DTH segment reported 10.4 percent y-o-y growth in operating revenue to Rs 865.7 crore in Q4-17 from Rs 784 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in Q4-17 increased 35.4 percent to Rs 97.5 crore from Rs 72 crore in Q4-16. The DTH segment’s revenue for fiscal 2017 increased 17.6 percent to Rs 3,430.6 crore as compared to Rs 2,917.8 crore in FY-16. Average revenue per customer (ARPU) in FY-17 increased to Rs 231 from Rs 226 in the previous year.

    The company’s capex in its DTH segment in FY-17 declined to less than half (declined by 52.9 percent) to Rs 138.6 crore as compared to Rs 294.3 crore in FY-16. Cumulative investments in the DTH segment at the end of FY-17 reached Rs 7,351.3 crore.

    Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion…

  • DTH adds 14 lakh active subscribers in Q2-17 as per TRAI data

    DTH adds 14 lakh active subscribers in Q2-17 as per TRAI data

    BENGALURU: The DTH industry in India has added about 14 lakh (1.4 million) active subscribers in the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter) as compared to the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17). The number of active DTH subscribers in the country increased to 6.19 crore (61.9 million) as compared to 6.05 crore (60.5 million) in Q1-7. TRAI had reported 4.05 crore (40.5 million) active subscribers for the corresponding year ago quarter Q2-16. . It may be noted that TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority Regulator has been reportingthe net active subscriber base included temporarily suspended subscribers that have been inactive for not more than 120 dayssince Q3-16 (quarter ended 31 December 2015).

    The growth seems to have slowed in Q2-17 down despite the extended sunset date for DAS IV nearing. In the previous quarter, the industry had added 19.7 lakh (1.97 million), 25.5 lakh (2.55 million) in the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16). Further, the industry has witnessed a faster growth of inactive subscribers as compared to active subscribers in Q2-17. Total number of registered subscribers grew 2.9 percent in the current quarter, while active subscribers grew by just 2.3 percent. In Q1-17 TRAI had reported 9.153 crore or 91.53 million registered subscribers, which grew to 9.416 crore or 94.16 million or a growth of 26.3 lakh (2.63 million) registered subscribers. As mentioned above active subscribers grew by just 14 lakh or 1.4 million in the same period.

    Of the six private players in the Indian DTH ecosystem, three are publically listed and their numbers are available in the public domain – They are in alphabetical order: Airtel Digital TV Services or Airtel DTH which is a small segment/division of Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited; Dish TV, the largest DTH player in the country in terms of number of subscribers; and Videocon d2h. These three have about two thirds of market share of the DTH universe in India. Of the other three players, Tata Sky is a major player and should have a market share about equal to Airtel DTH or Videocon d2h (about 20 percent). The other players – Reliance DTH and Sun Direct have a combined market share between 13 to 15 percent in terms of subscribers. It may be noted that at present probably the largest DTH player in India is the government’s FreeDish, but since it is a free service, no subscriber data is available even with PrasarBharati.

    Please refer to Fig A below for DTH subscriber growth.

    public://F1_0.jpg

    For Q2-17, the growth of the three major players was even slower than the industry – their combined subscriber base grew just 1.9 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) by just 7.45 lakh (0.625 million) to 400.25 lakh (40.025 million) from 392.8 lakh (39.28 million) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Fig B below indicates the approximate market share in terms of subscribers of the six private DTH players in the country.

    public://F2_0.jpg

    Let us see how they performed during the current quarter (Q2-17)

    Airtel Digital TV Services or Airtel DTH

    Airtel DTH reported 21.9 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in operating revenues to RsRs 854.5 crore in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 706.8 crore in Q2-16. The segment’s operating profit (EBIT) more than quadrupled y-o-y to Rs 69.8 crore from Rs 17 crore, but declined 42.7 percent q-o-q from Rs 121.9 crore.

    Airtel’s DTH segment added 18.29 lakh subscribers between Q2-16 and Q2-17, or a 17.3 percent y-o-y increase. The company says that this is the highest growth in percentage terms over seventeen quarters. It had 124.05 lakh subscribers as on 30 September 2016. Q-o-q, the segment witnessed a 2.1 percent growth (2.56 lakh adds) in subscribers from 121.49 lakh in Q1-17.

    ARPU in Q2-17 increased to Rs 232 from Rs 224 in the corresponding year ago quarter, but declined marginally (by Re 1) from Rs 233 in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Dish TV

    Three segments contribute to Dish TV’s numbers – DTH; Infra Support Services; and ‘Others’.

    Dish TV’s DTH segment revenue in Q2-17 declined 14.2 percent to Rs 509.55 crore from Rs 594.16 crore in Q2-16. The segment reported 15.5 percent lower operating profit in the current quarter at Rs 86.43 crore as compared to Rs 102.24 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    The company reported addition of 2.59 lakh net subscribers for Q2-17. It closed the quarter with 151 lakh subscribers. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for Q2-17 was Rs 162 in the current quarter versus Rs 161 in the corresponding year ago quarter. It may be noted that as of this fiscal, Dish TV has been reporting ARPU number net of service tax and hence comparison with the other players is inappropriate.

    Dish TV reported 11.9 percent higher y-o-y subscription revenue of Rs 728.8 crore for Q2-17, as compared to Rs 651.4 crore. Operating revenue in the current quarter increased 9.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 779.6 crore from Rs 711.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

    Dish TV reported PAT of Rs. 70.1 crore in Q2-17, down 19.4 percent as compared to Rs 87 crore in Q2-16. EBIDTA in the current quarter increased 3.6 percent to Rs 264.2 crore from Rs 255 crore in Q2-16.

    Videocon d2h

    Videocon d2h reported 12.5 percent y-o-y growth in total revenue from operations for Q2-17 at Rs 776.16 crore as compared to Rs 690.08 crore and a 1.7 percent q-o-q growth from Rs 763.25 crore.

    Videocon d2h reported PAT of Rs 6.32 crore (0.8 percent margin) Q2-17, current. For the corresponding year ago quarter (Q2-17), the company had reported a loss of Rs 24.59 crore while for the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17) the company had reported profit of Rs 2.66 crore (0.3 percent margin).

    The DTH major also reported 15.5 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in net subscriber numbers at 125.2 lakh for Q2-17 as compared to 108.4 lakh and a 1.9 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) growth from122.9 lakh. Monthly Average revenue per user (ARPU) in the current quarter increased to Rs 209 from Rs 201 in Q2-16 but declined by Rs 2 from Rs 211 in the immediate trailing quarter.

  • DTH adds 14 lakh active subscribers in Q2-17 as per TRAI data

    DTH adds 14 lakh active subscribers in Q2-17 as per TRAI data

    BENGALURU: The DTH industry in India has added about 14 lakh (1.4 million) active subscribers in the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter) as compared to the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17). The number of active DTH subscribers in the country increased to 6.19 crore (61.9 million) as compared to 6.05 crore (60.5 million) in Q1-7. TRAI had reported 4.05 crore (40.5 million) active subscribers for the corresponding year ago quarter Q2-16. . It may be noted that TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority Regulator has been reportingthe net active subscriber base included temporarily suspended subscribers that have been inactive for not more than 120 dayssince Q3-16 (quarter ended 31 December 2015).

    The growth seems to have slowed in Q2-17 down despite the extended sunset date for DAS IV nearing. In the previous quarter, the industry had added 19.7 lakh (1.97 million), 25.5 lakh (2.55 million) in the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16). Further, the industry has witnessed a faster growth of inactive subscribers as compared to active subscribers in Q2-17. Total number of registered subscribers grew 2.9 percent in the current quarter, while active subscribers grew by just 2.3 percent. In Q1-17 TRAI had reported 9.153 crore or 91.53 million registered subscribers, which grew to 9.416 crore or 94.16 million or a growth of 26.3 lakh (2.63 million) registered subscribers. As mentioned above active subscribers grew by just 14 lakh or 1.4 million in the same period.

    Of the six private players in the Indian DTH ecosystem, three are publically listed and their numbers are available in the public domain – They are in alphabetical order: Airtel Digital TV Services or Airtel DTH which is a small segment/division of Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited; Dish TV, the largest DTH player in the country in terms of number of subscribers; and Videocon d2h. These three have about two thirds of market share of the DTH universe in India. Of the other three players, Tata Sky is a major player and should have a market share about equal to Airtel DTH or Videocon d2h (about 20 percent). The other players – Reliance DTH and Sun Direct have a combined market share between 13 to 15 percent in terms of subscribers. It may be noted that at present probably the largest DTH player in India is the government’s FreeDish, but since it is a free service, no subscriber data is available even with PrasarBharati.

    Please refer to Fig A below for DTH subscriber growth.

    public://F1_0.jpg

    For Q2-17, the growth of the three major players was even slower than the industry – their combined subscriber base grew just 1.9 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) by just 7.45 lakh (0.625 million) to 400.25 lakh (40.025 million) from 392.8 lakh (39.28 million) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Fig B below indicates the approximate market share in terms of subscribers of the six private DTH players in the country.

    public://F2_0.jpg

    Let us see how they performed during the current quarter (Q2-17)

    Airtel Digital TV Services or Airtel DTH

    Airtel DTH reported 21.9 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in operating revenues to RsRs 854.5 crore in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 706.8 crore in Q2-16. The segment’s operating profit (EBIT) more than quadrupled y-o-y to Rs 69.8 crore from Rs 17 crore, but declined 42.7 percent q-o-q from Rs 121.9 crore.

    Airtel’s DTH segment added 18.29 lakh subscribers between Q2-16 and Q2-17, or a 17.3 percent y-o-y increase. The company says that this is the highest growth in percentage terms over seventeen quarters. It had 124.05 lakh subscribers as on 30 September 2016. Q-o-q, the segment witnessed a 2.1 percent growth (2.56 lakh adds) in subscribers from 121.49 lakh in Q1-17.

    ARPU in Q2-17 increased to Rs 232 from Rs 224 in the corresponding year ago quarter, but declined marginally (by Re 1) from Rs 233 in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Dish TV

    Three segments contribute to Dish TV’s numbers – DTH; Infra Support Services; and ‘Others’.

    Dish TV’s DTH segment revenue in Q2-17 declined 14.2 percent to Rs 509.55 crore from Rs 594.16 crore in Q2-16. The segment reported 15.5 percent lower operating profit in the current quarter at Rs 86.43 crore as compared to Rs 102.24 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    The company reported addition of 2.59 lakh net subscribers for Q2-17. It closed the quarter with 151 lakh subscribers. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for Q2-17 was Rs 162 in the current quarter versus Rs 161 in the corresponding year ago quarter. It may be noted that as of this fiscal, Dish TV has been reporting ARPU number net of service tax and hence comparison with the other players is inappropriate.

    Dish TV reported 11.9 percent higher y-o-y subscription revenue of Rs 728.8 crore for Q2-17, as compared to Rs 651.4 crore. Operating revenue in the current quarter increased 9.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 779.6 crore from Rs 711.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

    Dish TV reported PAT of Rs. 70.1 crore in Q2-17, down 19.4 percent as compared to Rs 87 crore in Q2-16. EBIDTA in the current quarter increased 3.6 percent to Rs 264.2 crore from Rs 255 crore in Q2-16.

    Videocon d2h

    Videocon d2h reported 12.5 percent y-o-y growth in total revenue from operations for Q2-17 at Rs 776.16 crore as compared to Rs 690.08 crore and a 1.7 percent q-o-q growth from Rs 763.25 crore.

    Videocon d2h reported PAT of Rs 6.32 crore (0.8 percent margin) Q2-17, current. For the corresponding year ago quarter (Q2-17), the company had reported a loss of Rs 24.59 crore while for the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17) the company had reported profit of Rs 2.66 crore (0.3 percent margin).

    The DTH major also reported 15.5 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in net subscriber numbers at 125.2 lakh for Q2-17 as compared to 108.4 lakh and a 1.9 percent quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) growth from122.9 lakh. Monthly Average revenue per user (ARPU) in the current quarter increased to Rs 209 from Rs 201 in Q2-16 but declined by Rs 2 from Rs 211 in the immediate trailing quarter.