ITV

Tag: Q2 FY2025

  • Hindustan Unilever Q2 FY2025 sees 4 per cent decline in PAT amid competitive pressures

    Hindustan Unilever Q2 FY2025 sees 4 per cent decline in PAT amid competitive pressures

    Mumbai: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), one of India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, faced a mixed financial performance for the quarter ending September 2024 (Q2 FY2025). While the company managed to maintain a stable revenue flow, posting a modest 2 per cent year-on-year growth, its profit after tax (PAT) took a hit, declining by 4 per cent compared to the same quarter last year. This marked a challenging period for the consumer giant as rising input costs and sluggish consumer demand weighed down its profitability.

    The financial results released on 23 October 2024, indicate that HUL’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 15,319 crores, up from Rs 15,027 crores in Q2 FY2024. However, the company’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) margins saw a slight contraction. EBITDA for the quarter came in at Rs 3,647 crores, marking an 80 basis points (bps) decline to 23.8 per cent from 24.6 per cent in the same period last year.

    A key highlight from the results was the dip in PAT to Rs 2,612 crores, down from Rs 2,717 crores in Q2 FY2024, representing a 4 per cent decline. This drop was driven by multiple factors, including escalating material costs and competitive pricing pressures in key segments like personal care and home care. Additionally, the company faced an exceptional restructuring charge of Rs 16 crores during the quarter, further compressing net earnings.

    HUL’s executive director and company secretary, Dev Bajpai, commented on the results, stating: “While we continue to deliver on our commitment to revenue growth, profitability challenges are real. We are focused on operational efficiencies and agile strategies to navigate the cost pressures.”

    The company’s Home Care division reported a sales increase to Rs 5,737 crores, while Beauty & Wellbeing achieved sales of Rs 3,323 crores. Yet, Personal Care and Foods & Refreshment segments faced marginal declines, with Personal Care revenue dropping to Rs 2,412 crores.

    In a bid to reward shareholders, HUL declared an interim dividend of Rs 19 per equity share and a special dividend of Rs 10 per share for FY2025, totalling Rs 29 per equity share. The record date for the dividend is set for 6 November 2024, with the dividend payout scheduled for 21 November 2024. Despite the decline in PAT, HUL’s strong cash flow allowed it to maintain its dividend policy, signalling confidence in its long-term growth strategy.

    The FMCG giant remains cautiously optimistic about the future. The company continues to emphasise innovation, digital transformation, and a consumer-centric approach to fuel long-term growth. Commenting on the company’s outlook, MD & CEO Rohit Jawa said: “Our investments in innovation and sustainability are non-negotiable as we focus on both protecting margins and driving top-line growth in the challenging macroeconomic environment.”

    Looking forward, HUL’s ability to manage costs and drive sales growth in a competitive market will be crucial. With consumer preferences shifting and economic pressures persisting, the company must stay agile and innovate to regain momentum in the upcoming quarters.
     

  • Network18: mixed financial performance in Q2 FY 2025

    Network18: mixed financial performance in Q2 FY 2025

    MUMBAI: That the television industry is going through a rough phase has been talked about ad nauseum. Normally, the June-September quarter is subdued -especially in media and entertainment – with the monsoons setting in and most categories slowing down on their ad spends. But, in 2025, the spends were even further muted despite some tentpole properties being shown on television. Or at least that’s what the media pundits are saying. And this is reflected in the Q2 FY 2025 consolidated financials of the Reliance Industries-owned Network18 Media.

    Network18 Media’s losses have climbed to Rs 1520 million as against Rs 1190 million in the corresponding period of FY2024. Revenues too have marginally dropped to Rs  18,250 million (Rs 18,6600 million in Q2FY 2024). For Q2 FY2025, the company has tightened its belt and reduced its operational costs to Rs 10,670 million (Rs 12,380 million). However, its marketing, distribution and promotional expenses have climbed to Rs 5020 million (Rs 3,720 million); its finance costs have escalated to Rs 1,700 million (Rs 660 million).

    On a half yearly basis, the financials to 30 September 2024 look more respectable. H1 FY2025 profit is at Rs 490 million as compared to a loss of Rs 270 million in H1 FY 2022. The company has turned up a profit despite a drop in revenues to Rs 49,660 million (Rs 51,040 million). It has managed to put a handle on operational expenses which fell to Rs 33,690 million (Rs 36,040 million). However, its marketing, promotion and distribution costs have shot up to Rs 10,120 million (Rs 8,970 million). Employee benefit costs too have risen to Rs 7010 million (Rs 6650 million). Finance costs have more than doubled to Rs 3,200 million (Rs 1,340 million).

    The company said in the a press release posted on the Bombay stock exchange that the news portfolio revenue grew only six per cent primarily driven by growth in digital segment ad revenue across all platforms (Rs 4450 million against Rs 4220 million in Q2 FY 2024). TV advertising was soft during the quarter as industry advertising volumes for the news genre declined by 20 per cent YoY. News’ share in overall advertising inventory consumption also declined by over 200 bps YoY and QoQ.

    Its entertainment vertical  under Viacom18 saw a decline in operating revenue of five per cent during Q2 FY 2025  primarily due to the drop in movie segment revenue. In Q2FY24, Viacom18 Studios had released two big-ticket movies whereas there were no movies released this quarter, which had an impact of Rs 3300 million on the revenue. Growth in ad revenue was primarily driven by digital, across both sports and non-sports segment (Rs 4450 million vs Rs 4200 million). Entertainment TV revenue was shaved to Rs 13,390 million (Rs 14,160 million). This was largely offset by growth in subscription revenue (Rs 7,330 million vs Rs 5110 million) aided by new pricing as well as the increased monetisation of its sports portfolio.

    JioCinema’s recently launched SVOD plans witnessed strong traction and helped it become the fastest-growing subscription-based OTT platform in the country.

    The good news for the company is that The scheme of arrangement for the merger of Network18, TV18 Broadcast Ltd. (TV18) and e-Eighteen.com (E18) became effective on 3 October 2024.  The merger creates India’s largest platform-agnostic news media powerhouse with the widest widest footprint across languages, straddling both TV and digital.  

    The network has a monthly reach of over 350 million on TV and around 250 million monthly unique visitors across its digital portfolio. As consumers and advertisers increasingly gravitate towards omni-channel experiences across different aspects of their lives, having a deep and integrated presence across both TV and digital media will enable the merged entity to serve them better.  The combination of the businesses will result in operational synergies, cost optimization and opportunities for increased revenue realization.

    “We are happy to have completed the merger of our news businesses. With a strong portfolio of TV channels and digital platforms, covering the breadth of the country and catering to its linguistic diversity, we are ideally positioned to become the most preferred news network of India. We are committed to push boundaries of and lead the growth of the industry as we build on this strong foundation,” said Network18,chairman Adil Zainulbhai.