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Tag: M G Azhar

  • Den Networks reports growth in operational and subscription revenue for Q2-2015

    Den Networks reports growth in operational and subscription revenue for Q2-2015

    BENGALURU: Den Networks Ltd (Den Networks) reported   that its cable business operational revenues stood at Rs 286.22 crore, up 11 per cent y-o-y from Rs 258.06 crore in Q2-2014 and that its cable business subscription revenues for Q2-2015 were Rs 146.75 crore, up 49.2 per cent y-o-y from Rs 98.34 crore in Q2-2014.

     

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

     

    Den Networks Total Income from Operation (TIO) at Rs 291.72 crore in the current quarter fell 2.4 per cent from Rs 298.81 crore in the immediate trailing quarter and was 7.3 per cent more than the Rs 271.87 crore in Q2-2014. TIO in HY-2015 at Rs 590.53 crore was 9.2 per cent more than the Rs 540.57 crore in HY-2014.

     

    Den Networks recently launched its high speed broadband and says that the service is gaining great traction and has achieved 9,600 subscribers at an average ARPU of Rs 740 per month.

     

    The company also says that its joint venture (JV) with Snapdeal.com has been received extremely well. Within the first month, Den Networks claims that the company has clocked an annualised Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in excess of Rs 50 crore based on the annualised latest daily run rate and is expected to scale significantly as the channel gets distributed across networks.

     

    Den Networks COO M G Azhar said, “We are pleased with the overall company’s financial performance as the company continues to invest in transforming from B2B to B2C environment. The Company has started seeing traction in its recently launched broadband services and also in the Den Snapdeal home shopping channel.”

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Den Networks

     

    Total Expense (TE) in Q2-2015 at Rs 297.81 crore (102.1 per cent of TIO) was 4.5 per cent more than the Rs 284.93 crore (95.4 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and 32.7 per cent more than the Rs 224.43 crore (82.6 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2014. HY-2015 TE at Rs 582.74 crore (98.7 per cent of TIO) was 28.3 per cent more than the Rs 454.12 crore in HY-2014.

     

    The company’s content cost in Q2-2015 at Rs 108.91 crore (37.3 per cent of TIO) was 2.3 per cent more than the Rs 106.42 crore (35.6 per cent of TIO) and was 20.3 per cent higher than the Rs 90.54 crore (33.3 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2014. For HY-2015, content cost at Rs 215.33 crore (36.5 per cent of TIO) was 22.7 per cent more than the Rs 175.55 crore (32.5 per cent of TIO) in HY-2014.

     

    The company’s operational, administrative and other costs (admin cost) in Q2-2015 at Rs 78.61 crore (26.9 per cent of TIO) was 11.6 per cent more than the Rs 70.47 crore (23.6 per cent of TI) in Q1-2015 and 18.5 per cent more than the Rs 66.34 crore (24.4 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2014. Admin cost for HY-2015 at Rs 149.08 crore was (25.2 per cent of TIO) was 3.1 per cent more than the Rs 144.66 crore (26.8 per cent of TIO) in HY-2014.

     

    The company reported a loss of Rs 20.45 crore in Q2-2015 versus a PAT of Rs 1.12 crore (0.37 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and a PAT of Rs 11.18 crore (4.1 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2014. The company reported loss at Rs 19.33 crore in HY-2015 as compared to a PAT of Rs 21.33 crore in HY-2014.

     

    The company’s EBIDTA (without considering other income) in Q2-2015 fell 28.4 per cent to Rs 40.94 crore (14 per cent of TIO) from Rs 57.16 crore (19.1 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and fell 51.5 per cent from the Rs 84.48 crore (31.1 per cent of TIO). As per Den Networks investor presentation for the current quarter, its broadband service has eroded Rs 10 crore and its soccer franchise Delhi Dynamos has eroded another Rs 5 crore from Q2-2015 EBIDTA.

     

    Other Income for the periods under consideration is as follows: Q2-2015 – Rs 22.47 crore; Q1-2015 – Rs 18.65 crore; Q2-2014 – Rs 4.71 crore; HY-2015 Rs 41.12 crore; HY-2014 – Rs 11.4 crore.

     

    Click here for the investor update

     

    Click here for the press release

  • Den Networks and Wipro join hands for enhancing customer experience

    Den Networks and Wipro join hands for enhancing customer experience

    MUMBAI: Multi system operator (MSO) Den Networks is not only expanding its business, but with that is looking at enhancing customer experience as well. And with this, the MSO has entered into a strategic partnership with information technology giant Wipro. The alliance aims at accelerating Den Networks’ evolution from being a B2B organisation to a B2C one.       

     

    The strategic partnership will empower Den Networks’ customers with seamless connectivity and integration. Through this decade-long alliance, the MSO will be able to provide its customers, local cable operators (LCOs) and partners with real time efficient services, thereby ensuring continuous engagement and zero downtime. The initiative will also help Den Networks to streamline the deployment of its next generation services and provide quicker service activation, accurate rating and billing and excellent customer service.

     

     “As the industry continuously evolves, it is imperative to drive innovations for an enhanced customer experience. This initiative will help us connect better with our customers, and meet operators’ demand for quicker and accurate dissemination of a variety of services, thereby driving increased loyalty, adoption and efficiency. We are looking at automating our backend processes as a part of this deal, to provide a seamless subscriber experience and build customer loyalty,” said Den Networks COO M.G. Azhar.

     

    According to the agreement, Den Networks can offer SMS and BSS user friendly solutions, which allows cable operators to deliver more personalised and sophisticated services to cable and broadband subscribers at sharply improved delivery time.

     

    “We are delighted to be chosen as a strategic partner for Den. Wipro will leverage its extensive experience in business and technology transformation, combined with platform-driven integrated delivery of IT to ensure we deliver a robust, flexible and scalable infrastructure to help Den do business better,” added Wipro Infotech chief executive Soumitro Ghosh.

     

     

    The cloud based platform will use a highly extendible patented model that consolidates all subscriber, product, service and infrastructure based operational data, allowing operators to reliably and rapidly create and manage a wider range of residential and business products that deliver increased operational efficiency and a greater user experience.

     

    “This partnership will enable both the companies to meet the changing needs of the customer, providing them with more choices and market solutions, using a blend of onboard and cloud-based distributed analytics. Our user-centric architecture and expertise in the broadband & cable space will help DEN Networks engage with customers at a deeper level,” concluded Wipro senior vice president and business head-global communications Anil K. Jain.

  • Trai’s tariff order gets a mixed response from leading MSOs and DTH service providers

    Trai’s tariff order gets a mixed response from leading MSOs and DTH service providers

    MUMBAI: Cable TV and DTH industry executives have given a mixed response to the standard tariff package order which they can charge subscribers for set top boxes (STBs) and consumer premise equipment (CPE) that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) announced late last evening. Called The Telecommunication (Broadcasting & Cable) Services Fifth – The Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems Tariff Order 2013 and The Telecommunication (Broadcasting & Cable) Sixth -The Direct to Home Services Tariff Order 2013, respectively, they seek to offer another option for buying STBs to TV viewers in India.

    Leading Indian MSO DEN Networks COO M.G. Azhar was reasonably happy about the orders being release. Says he: “It is good news. Under the new order, the government has standardised a payback period of three years for the STB/CPEs.”

    He, however, confessed that he does not know how much of an impact it would have on consumer offtake. “Our experience shows that we have not had too many subscribers opting for the basic STBs which we have been offering to them in the past with similar packages,” he reveals. “We used to take Rs 600 or so when a consumer signed on for DEN‘s DAS services and then adjust the cost of the STB through the subscription fees we levied every month. Normally, we have been seeing more offtake coming for the better STBs.”

    Some like Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal said it was too early to respond to the media about the Trai tariff orders. “We are responding to the Trai on this directly,” he explained. “We are seeing how quickly we can implement it.”

    Videocon d2H CEO Anil Khera admitted that he was not so sure if the orders would be acceptable to all. But he added that his company was trying to understand what its impact would be on the DTH sector. “We are currently studying the order and seeking legal advice as well, we are still trying to understand the logistical issues,” stated Khera.

    Indusind Media & Communications Ltd MD Ravi Manshukhani, was pretty non-committal about the Trai‘s new orders. “Whatever they have put out is absolutely fair, we just hope that we are able to implement whatever is required from our end with support from the government,” he stated.

    But he also highlighted that the operator should have the right to quote his price for the STBs he is giving his customers. He cautioned: “See the government is playing its part in creating guidelines for the sector, but they do not know what is actually happening on the ground. We have not yet matured as a market to provide what Trai wants. Right now we all are in the process of digitising the country as per the demands of Trai and ministry of information and broadcasting, so we are providing the boxes at whatever prices we can. If there are more rules and regulations like this then it is only going to make things painful.”

    So the verdict of the industry on the new Trai tariff orders seems rather unclear. Let‘s wait and watch, and see how they react to it over the next few days.

    Also read:

    Trai issues Tariff Orders for STBs/CPEs for DTH and cable TV operators

    TRAI acts tough about DAS; moves court against cable TV ops

    Trai issues draft tariff package for STBs/CPEs for DTH and cable TV ops