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Tag: Bibhu Prasad Rath

  • Q2-2016: Ortel YoY revenue up 24.6 percent, PAT more than doubles

    Q2-2016: Ortel YoY revenue up 24.6 percent, PAT more than doubles

    BENGALURU: The Bibhu Prasad Rath-headed regional cable television and broadband internet player Ortel Communications Ltd  (Ortel) has reported a 24.6 percent growth in revenue from operations (TIO) at Rs 45.79 crore as in the quarter ended 30 September 2015 (Q2-2016, current quarter) as compared to the Rs 36.74 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. TIO in the current quarter was also higher by 12.8 percent as compared to the Rs 40.6 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. Ortel provides services in the Indian states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal,

     

    Notes: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    The numbers mentioned in this report are standalone.

     

    The company reported more than a doubling of PAT (up 2.3 times) to Rs 2.83 crore (5.9 percent margin) as compared to the Rs 1.23 crore (3 percent margin) in Q2-2015, and 15.9 percent more than the Rs 2.44 crore (5.7 percent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Ortel President and CEO Rath said, “I am glad to report a strong operational and financial performance for the quarter ended   September 30, 2015. Performance during the quarter was driven by healthy addition in revenue generating units (RGUs) which stood at 571,834. We are witnessing encouraging traction to our LCO buyout strategy in emerging markets like Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and I am confident that this would sustain going forward. Going forward, we would continue with our strategy of aggressive LCO buyouts across all our markets and diligently integrate the new  subscribers into Ortel’s last mile network. Healthy contribution from new RGUs along with ongoing focus on the high margin Broadband business would enable us to deliver strong financial performance in the forthcoming years.”

     

    The company’s EBIDTA (TIO plus Depreciation and Amortisation plus Other Income plus Fixed assets written off minus Total Expenditure) increased 31.3 percent to Rs 17.29 crore (37.8 percent margin) in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 13.17 crore (35.8 percent margin) and increased 8.8 percent as compared to the Rs 15.89 crore (39.1 percent margin) in Q1-2016.

     

    Ortel’s YoY RGUs grew 9.2 percent to 571,834 in Q2-2016 from 523,833 in Q2-2015 and increased 5.5 percent from 542,217 in Q1-2016.

     

    Cable TV RGUs’ increased 9 percent in Q2-2016 to 508,171 from 466,305 in Q2-2015 and grew 5.6 percent from 481,317 in Q1-2016.

    Ortel’s YoY primary digital cable RGUs grew 33.2 percent to 117,401 in Q2-2016 from 88,106 and grew QoQ to 4.5 percent from 112,296 in Q1-2016. Analogue cable RGUs’ increased to 330,739 from 322,175 in Q2-2015 and from 307,923 in Q1-2016. The company says that its Cable TV penetration stood at 23.7 percent and penetration in select 10 towns where company offers digital services stands at 71 percent.

     

    Broadband customers grew 8.9 percent to 63,663 in the current quarter from 57,528 in Q2-2015 and grew 4.5 percent from 60,900 in Q1-2016.

     

    The company has reported a slight drop in digital and analogue cable and broadband ARPUs’ in the current quarter. Digital cable ARPU in Q2-2016 was Rs 183 in Q2-2016; Rs 187 in Q2-2015 and Rs 185 in Q1-2016. Analogue cable ARPU in Q2-2016 was Rs 143; in Q2-2015 it was Rs 147 and in Q1-2016, it was Rs 144. Broadband ARPU in Q2-2016 was Rs 183, in Q2-2015, it was Rs 187 and in Q1-2016, it was Rs 185.

     

     

    Cable Subscription, Connection and Channel carriage fees

     

    The company’s cable subscription fees in Q2-2016 increased 4 percent to Rs 20.6 crore as compared to the Rs 19.8 crore in Q2-2015 and increased 3 percent as compared to the Rs 20 crore in Q1-2016. Connection fees declined to Rs 0.70 crore in the current quarter from Rs 1.1 crore in Q2-2015 and remained flat as compared to the Rs 0.7 crore in Q1-2015.Channel carriage fees in the current quarter increased 44.9 percent to Rs 9.7 crore from Rs 6.7 crore in Q2-2015 and increased 23.8 percent from Rs 7.8 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Ortel

     

    Total Expenditure in Q2-2016 increased 13.3 percent to Rs 38.72 crore as compared to Rs 34.17 crore in Q2-2015 and increased 12.5 percent as compared to the Rs 34.42 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    The company’s Programming cost in the current quarter increased 7.2 percent to Rs 9.44 crore from Rs 8.81 crore in Q2-2015 and increased 5.9 percent from Rs 8.91 crore in Q1-2016.

     

    Bandwidth cost in Q2-2016 increased 19.3 percent to Rs 1.92 crore from Rs 1.61 crore in Q2-2015 and increased 7.9 percent from Rs 1.78 crore in Q1-2016.

     

    Employee Benefits Expense in the current quarter increased 45.5 percent to Rs 5.64 crore as compared to the Rs 3.88 crore in Q2-2015 and was 15.4 percent more than the Rs 4.89 crore in Q1-2016.

     

    Last quarter, Ortel announced that it had introduced free broadband option for all Ortel Cable TV subscribers in the states of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh as a complimentary special value added service in order to target to deeper penetrate into markets by making internet affordable. Ortel says that its offer includes a free data limit every month for a year. The subscriber will be charged a nominal amount after exceeding the free data usage for the month.

  • Q1-2016: Ortel PAT at Rs 2.44 crore; on track for 1 million RGUs target

    Q1-2016: Ortel PAT at Rs 2.44 crore; on track for 1 million RGUs target

    BENGALURU: The Bibhu Prasad Rath led regional cable television and high speed broadband services provider Ortel Communication Limited (Ortel) reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 2.44 crore (six per cent margin) in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016) as compared to a loss of Rs 1.16 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. However, the company’s Q1-2016 PAT was less than half (lower by 56.8 per cent) the PAT of Rs 5.65 crore (12.6 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Ortel reported 20.5 per cent growth in Total Income from Operations (TIO) at Rs 40.60 crore in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 33.69 crore in Q1-2015, but 9.6 per cent lower than the Rs 44.91 crore in Q5-2015.

     

    Notes: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    The numbers mentioned in this report are standalone.

     

    Subscription numbers and ARPU

     

    The company reported a 2.1 per cent growth in cable revenue generating units (RGU) in Q1-2016 at 481,317 as compared to the 471,592 in the immediate trailing quarter. In Q1-2015, the company had 462,328 RGU, hence the number grew by 4.1 per cent in Q1-2016.

     

    Ortel’s q-o-q digital cable RGUs grew six per cent to 1,13,653 in the current quarter from 1,07,175 in Q1-2015, while its analogue cable RGUs grew 0.9 per cent to 3,67,664 as compared to the 3,64,417 in the same period.

     

    The company reported a slight drop in average revenue per user (ARPU) in cable subscription – ARPU for digital cable dropped by Re 1 to Rs 184 and for analogue cable also the ARPU dropped by Re 1 to Rs 144 in the current quarter as compared to the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Broadband RGUs in the current quarter grew 4.1 per cent to 60900 from 58519 in Q4-2015. Ortel announced the launch of up to 50 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 Broadband Internet in Odisha. The company’s Broadband ARPU in the current quarter also declined by Re 1 to Rs 393 from Rs 394 in Q4-2015.

     

    LCO Buyout

     

    Ortel signed network buy out agreements with multiple LCOs during the quarter taking the total RGUs to 542,217. The company said that another 33,000 RGUs are in the pipeline and would be added to total RGUs in the forthcoming months.

     

    Company speak

     

    Ortel president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “We have begun the year on a healthy note with 25 per cent increase in revenues and 44 per cent improvement in EBITDA during Q1-2016. EBITDA margins enhanced to 37 per cent from 32 per cent in Q1-2015 and profit after tax stood strong at Rs 2.4 crore compared to Rs 5.6 crore reported in full year FY-2015. Thus the trend remains encouraging. Overall growth was delivered on the back of steady contribution from cable TV and broadband segments supported by continued momentum in the infrastructure leasing segment. Significant growth in subscriber base, deeper penetration, enhanced product offerings and a strong team, should enable us to notably improve our performance going forward.

     

    I am also pleased to share that over and above the 542,217 RGUs as on 30 June, 2015, we have signed buy out agreements with multiple LCOs with total estimated RGUs of 33,000, which would be integrated into Ortel’s last mile network going forward. So we remain on track and are confident of achieving our target of one million RGUs (10 lakh) by March 2017 backed by our LCO buy out strategy and focus on organic growth both in broadband and cable TV.”

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Ortel

     

    Total Expenditure in Q1-2016 at Rs 34.42 crore (84.8 per cent of TIO) was 14.8 per cent more than the Rs 29.99 crore (89 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and 4.1 per cent more than the Rs 33.08 crore (73.6 per cent of TIO).

     

    Ortel paid Rs 8.91 crore (22 per cent of TIO) towards programming cost, which was 3.6 per cent more than the Rs 8.60 crore (18.9 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and was 4.9 per cent more than the Rs 8.49 crore (18.9 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Bandwidth cost in Q1-2016 at Rs 1.78 crore (4.4 per cent of TIO) was 6.9 per cent more than the Rs 1.67 crore (4.9 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter and was 2.3 per cent more than the Rs 1.74 crore in Q4-2015.

     

    Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in Q1-2016 at Rs 4.89 crore (12 per cent of TIO) was 19.3 per cent more than the Rs 4.09 crore (9.8 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and was 11.4 per cent more than Rs 4.39 crore (12.2 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Ortel has introduced free broadband option for all Ortel Cable TV subscribers in the states of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh as a complimentary special value added service in order to target to deeper penetrate into markets by making internet affordable. The company says that its offer includes a free data limit every month for a year. The subscriber will be charged a nominal amount after exceeding the free data usage for the month. 

     

    Click here to read the unaudited financial statement 

  • Ortel Communications launches free broadband for cable TV consumers

    Ortel Communications launches free broadband for cable TV consumers

    MUMBAI: Last mile owner (LMO) Ortel Communications, in order to strengthen its broadband base in Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh has introduced free broadband offer for its cable TV subscribers. This complimentary broadband service is part of the LMOs special value added service (VAS).

     

    The service will be available in areas where Ortel Broadband is provisioned within its cable TV network.

     

    The offer includes free data limit of 250 MB every month for a year, post which the subscriber will be charged a nominal fee for any usage exceeding the free data limit in a month. The plan also includes unlimited upload data offer. However, if the subscriber wants to migrate to any other existing Ortel Broadband plans, they can within the offer period of one year.

     

    It can be noted that Ortel Broadband has already started offering mega speed broadband of 50 Mbps using DOCSIS 3.0 technology in select areas of Bhubaneswar.

     

    The broadband segment revenue for the company grew 5.2 per cent to Rs 28.89 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 27.47 crore in FY-2014. Not just this, the operating profit from broadband segment grew a healthy 43.3 per cent to Rs 20.89 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 14.57 crore in FY-2014. Within this segment, internet connection fees grew 12 per cent in the current year to Rs 1.9 crore from Rs 1.7 crore in FY-2014.
     
    The retail broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) for Ortel currently stands at Rs 356 as compared to Rs 373 in both FY-2014 and FY-2013. The broadband revenue generating unit (RGU) for the company stood at 58,519 in FY-2015.

     

    Ortel Communications president & CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “We are glad to launch free Broadband Combo offer to Ortel Cable TV customers. Our objective is to deepen our penetration into markets by making internet affordable and continuously delight our valued customers. We have been constantly adding value to our customers and this free broadband offer will be useful for those who are having limited download and unlimited uploads.”

     

    “In addition, the company has already actively deployed DOCSIS 3.0 recently to deliver impressive internet surfing experience to its subscribers. With faster digitisation of Cable TV customers, we will be in a strong position to leverage the opportunity by offering combo plans of cable TV and internet connections,” he added. 

  • Ortel Broadband launches 50 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 internet

    Ortel Broadband launches 50 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 internet

    MUMBAI: Ortel Communications has introduced 50 Mbps mega speed DOCSIS 3.0 broadband internet in Odisha. While initially being deployed in Bhubaneswar, the service will be made available in other markets as well.

     

    DOCSIS 3.0 allows a much higher throughput compared to the earlier versions by using multi-channel bonding simultaneously for download/upload.

     

    Ortel Communications president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “We are happy to launch mega speed broadband services of up to 50 Mbps on DOCSIS 3.0 technology. This will redefine the consumer experience of internet usage and we believe that mega speed internet at low cost will revolutionize the internet markets that we are present in. We intend to aggressively pursue this in our markets which will help us increase the overall broadband subscriber base. The company plans to actively deploy DOCSIS 3.0 modems to deliver impressive internet surfing experience to its subscribers. With faster digitization of cable TV customers, we will be in a strong position to leverage the opportunity by offering COMBO plans of Digital TV and Internet connections.”

     

    DOCSIS technology has been developed by CableLabs, an International consortium of cable operators and MSOs, and approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T). This technology has been widely used in Europe and USA by leading ISPs.

     

    The internet subscribers in India have evolved over a period of time and Ortel Broadband has launched the mega speed broadband internet plans to cater to subscribers who have increased video led internet consumption. HD video content viewings as well as increased download speeds are the main benefits of DOCSIS 3.0 mega speed Ortel Broadband. Higher end online gaming responses will be almost real time. Ortel Broadband DOCSIS 3.0 subscribers can download a movie of 750 MB in two minutes and video songs can be downloaded within seconds based on the plans selected and system configuration.

     

    The company has invested in laying its own network with reverse path compatibility making it capable of providing Triple play service including broadband and VoIP services.

  • Ortel appoints Jiji John as vice president – broadband

    Ortel appoints Jiji John as vice president – broadband

    MUMBAI: Ortel Communications has appointed Jiji John as vice president of broadband business with effect from 1 June, 2015.

     

    John has more than 18 years of experience in strategic planning, sales, marketing and business development.

     

    Prior to joining Ortel, John was vice president at Asianet Broadband, which is a division of Asianet Satellite Communications.

     

    During his career, he has held various positions with telecom and ISP companies like Escotel Mobile Communications (currently Idea Cellular) and Sify Technologies amongst others.

     

    Ortel Communications president & CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “We are delighted to welcome Jiji John as VP of our Broadband Business. His rich experience and deep understanding of the sector would help Ortel strengthen its position in the segment where the Company is targeting a notable increase in the number of broadband subscribers over the next few years. Jiji will play a crucial role in driving growth and profitability of the Broadband Business which remains a key focus for Ortel.”

  • Ortel Communications files RHP for public issue

    Ortel Communications files RHP for public issue

    MUMBAI: Odisha based last mile owner (LMO) Ortel Communications has filed the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) for a public issue.

     

    Confirming the same to Indiantelevision.com, Ortel Communications president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath said, “Yes, the RHP has been filed and the issue is scheduled to open on 3 March.”

     

    The company had filed for the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in September 2014.

     

    The LMO is looking at a primary issue of 60 lakh shares and sale of another 60 lakh share by New Silk Route, which currently owns 35 per cent share in the company.

     

    The IPO, which is being handled by Kotak Mahindra Capital, may raise close to Rs 250 crore. Ortel Communications will be utilising the funds for expansion of its network for providing video, data and telephony services. Additionally the company is also looking at developing its digital cable and broadband services with the infusion of funds.

     

    This issue is being made through the book building process wherein at least 75 per cent of the Issue shall be allotted to qualified institutional bidders (QIBs) on a proportionate basis out of which five per cent of the QIB portion (excluding the anchor investor portion, which shall be allocated on a discretionary basis) shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to mutual funds only, and the remainder shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to all QIB bidders, including mutual funds, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

     

    Further, not more than 15 per cent of the issue will be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders and not more than 10 per cent of the Issue will be available for allocation to retail individual bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

     

    Attached is the PDF