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Tag: Sunil Lulla

  • ALTBalaji direct subscriptions up by 60-70% over last quarter

    ALTBalaji direct subscriptions up by 60-70% over last quarter

    MUMBAI: Balaji Telefims’ digital venture ALTBalaji has been quickly growing its subscriber base and subscription revenue, further reinforcing the OTT sector’s belief that Indian consumers are more than ready to pay for engaging content. After three consecutive strong quarters on the digital front, the company is now set to shift gears when it comes to its content strategy. Going forward, the video streamer will lay greater emphasis on strategically acquiring direct consumers.

    “We are now at a process where we are confident that we will do about 24 to 30 shows in a year plus three categories of shows, so that is either male focus shows or female focus dramas. We are reinforcing that content strategy and our focus on international, which will be even more as we go ahead as our library builds up,” Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sunil Lulla said in an earnings call after the company announced its Q3 results.

    The Ekta Kapoor-led production house’s OTT arm boasts of 13.1 million paid subscriptions as of February, with a 2x growth in monthly active users that now stand at 4.6 million. 70 per cent of the platform's consumers have opted for a quarterly subscription.

    In addition to that, ALTBalaji has witnessed nearly 60-70 per cent growth in direct subscription numbers over the last quarter. On the back these consumers’ willingness to pay Rs 300 monthly, the OTT platform has made investments and upped marketing spends to further boost these subscriptions.

    Lulla pointed out the subscriber addition is happening at two levels – new subscribers and those returning post the churn.  Notably, Lulla had said in an earnings call after the Q1 result that about 70-80  per cent of traffic comes from telcos while the ARPU from the sector stands at around Rs 15 per month.

    The veteran media executive stated that not only have the new shows aided subscriber addition, but the old ones too make up for a good share. The overall growth in library has played a key role too, he highlighted. The management hopes to hit a tipping point in the next 12 to 18 months.

    While the group had undertaken an equity infusion of around Rs 450 crore in ALTBalaji, it has already invested Rs 350 crore of that.

    “It will be sufficient while we said that we put in Rs 350 crore. You must understand that a lot of cash that is there in production is in production contract that has been executed and they will also get accrued when they are actually put on air, if you see the two content cost across the two years that is not equal to Rs 350 crore yet,” Lulla argued when asked if the balance Rs 100 crore would be enough for the next two years.

    While the group had projected Rs 60 crore in revenue from ALTBalaji for the financial year, it has so far been able to garner Rs 28 crore. However, the number does not contain revenues from international market, which is yet to be reported. Lulla, however, admitted that the strategy for international market probably hasn’t played out the way he had expected it to.

    While TV business continues to be the highest revenue generator of Balaji Telefilms group, it hasn’t shown exponential growth. The group launched new shows in the first quarter, with TV shows already on air having hit maturity. The management now hopes to further improve the performance from this quarter to about five to ten per cent in the next and keep consolidating thereafter.

  • Eros Now aims to accelerate subs addition within millennial, post-millennial audiences

    Eros Now aims to accelerate subs addition within millennial, post-millennial audiences

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla-led Eros International Media Ltd (Eros) reported higher revenues on more film releases and a slight decline in profit after tax for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (Q3 2018). 

    Eros released 25 films and 3 Eros Now original series in Q3 2019 as compared to just four films in Q3 2018. Twenty three of the releases in Q3 2019 were small budget, while two were medium budget films as compared to four small budget films in Q3 2018. Further, in Q3 2019, six of the releases were Hindi, two were Tamil/Telugu and the rest (17) were regional films. In Q3 2018, Eros released three Hindi movies and one regional movie.

    Eros’s revenue streams have undergone a marked shift in contributions to overall revenue over time. The percentage of theatrical revenues has come down, while television plus others and overseas has gone up.  For fiscal 2018 (year ended 31 March 2018, FY 2018), Eros had reported 42.8 percent of revenue from theatrical releases, 46.3 percent revenue share from television and others which included revenue from digital platforms and 10.9 percent from overseas.  For Q3 2019, the company has reported 24.6 percent, 52.4 percent and 23 percent contributions from theatrical releases, television and others, and overseas respectively.

    Eros has projected rapid growth in paid subscribers for its digital platform ErosNow at the end of fiscal 2019 (year ending 31 March 2019) at 16 plus million as compared to 13 million at the end of Q2 2019. The company is banking on its long standing and exclusive partnerships with major Indian telecom and mobile data players – Jio, Airtel and the merged Vodafone-Idea to add more paid subscribers to ErosNow.

    Company speak

    Eros executive vice chairman and MD Lulla said, “We are pleased to announce strong results during the quarter, delivering 62.1 percent total income growth and consistent profits. Our focused approach of choosing a balanced slate spanning genres, languages and budgets, continues to deliver positive results. During the quarter, we released a total of 25 films and three digital series, comprising of an interesting mix of genres ranging from comedy to horror and crime thriller, which received encouraging responses. The theatrical slate included the critically acclaimed Tumbbad, Boyz 2 (Marathi), Mumbai Pune Mumbai 3 (Marathi) and our twin Telugu releases Amar Akbar Anthony and Savyasachi amongst others. A strong slate of overseas releases of Andhadhun (Hindi), Helicopter Eela (Hindi) and Namaste England (Hindi) further supported performance during the quarter.

    "In this quarter, we released three original web series – the crime thriller Smoke, the entertaining and quirky Date Gone Wrong and the fun-series Paisa Fek Tamasha Dekh on ErosNow, which received positive audience ratings and were equally applauded by the critics. We are committed to bring fresh and engaging digital content targeted primarily to the millennial audiences on the ErosNow platform, and have an exciting pipeline of original content lined up for the upcoming quarters. We are confident with our exciting content offering the pace of subscriber addition for ErosNow will further aaccelerate

    "As we look ahead, we have a compelling film slate which includes Saif Ali Khan starrer Kaptan, the trilingual remake of Haathi mere Saath, Kaamiyab, Ticket to Bollywood, and a host of regional releases. In addition, we have a host of remarkable originals such as Dashavtar, Ponnyin Selvan, Flesh, Bhumi coming up on ErosNow, that we look forward to releasing in the upcoming quarters.”

    Let us look at the numbers reported by Eros

    Eros reported a 52.9 percent jump in operating revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3 2019, period or quarter under review) at Rs 292.88 crore as compared to Rs 193.51 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter (y-o-y comparison). Profit after tax (PAT) and total comprehensive income (TCI) for the period under review fell 7.4 percent and 58.9 percent (more than respectively) respectively y-o-y. Total income increased 62.2 percent y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 332.28 crore as compared to Rs 201.97 crore in Q3 2018. PAT in Q3 2019 was Rs 62.19 crore as compared to Rs 67.16 crore in Q3 2018. TCI in Q3 2019 was Rs 23.06 crore as compared to Rs 56.16 crore in Q3 2018.

    Eros reported 107.9 percent y-o-y increase in total expenditure in Q3 2019 at Rs 255.42 crore from Rs 122.86 crore in Q3 2018. Films rights costs including amortisation costs increased 101.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 145.51 crore from Rs 72.30 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Employee benefits expense in Q3 2019 declined 11.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 12.56 crore from Rs 14.14 crore in Q3 2018.

    Finance costs reduced 13 percent y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 15.95 crore from Rs 18.33 crore in the previous year’s corresponding quarter. Other expenses in the quarter under review more that quintupled (increased by 402.2 percent) y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 77.54 crore from Rs 15.44 crore in Q3 2018.

  • Eros numbers up in second quarter

    Eros numbers up in second quarter

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla-led Indian film and media company Eros International Media Ltd (Eros) reported a 9.2 per cent jump in operating revenue for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Q2 2019, period or quarter under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (y-o-y comparison). Profit after tax (PAT) and total comprehensive income (TCI) for the period under review jumped 34.4 per cent and 109.3 per cent (more than doubled) respectively y-o-y. Total income increased 17 per cent y-o-y in Q2 2019.

    Eros reported operating revenue of Rs 292.88 crore for Q2 2019 as compared to Rs 268.26 crore. Total revenue during the quarter under review was Rs 320.56 crore as compared to Rs 273.93 crore in Q2 2018. PAT in Q2 2019 was Rs 77.31 crore as compared to Rs 57.51 crore in Q2 2018. TCI in Q 2019 was Rs 131.33 crore as compared to Rs 62.76 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    The company released 17 films and one digital series in Q2 2019 as compared to 14 films in the previous quarter (Q1 2019). Contribution by overseas revenue to operating revenue almost doubled to 23.7 per cent during the period under review as compared to 12.6 per cent of operating revenues in Q2 2018. Theatrical revenues contributed 28.1 per cent to overall revenues in Q2 2019 as compared to 30.7 per cent in Q2 2018. Contribution to total revenue from television and others in Q 2019 was 48.2 per cent as compared to 56.7 per cent in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Eros reported 10.9 per cent y-o-y increase in total expenditure in Q2 2019 at Rs 7231.36 crore from Rs 208.54 crore in Q2 2018. Films rights costs including amortisation costs increased 25.2 per cet y-o-y to Rs 148.87 crore from Rs 118.95 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Employee benefits expense in Q2 2019 declined 12.4 per cent y-o-y to Rs 13.18 crore from Rs 15.04 crore in Q2 2018.

    Finance costs reduced 17.8 per cent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 21.36 crore from Rs 54.22 crore in the previous year. Other expenses increase 1 per cent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 51.22 crore from Rs 50.71 crore in Q2 2018.

    Company speak

    Eros executive chairman and managing director Lulla said, “We are happy to report a strong performance during the Q2 and H1 FY2019 which has been a result of our continuous focus on building a portfolio of content driven films that appeal to a wide cross-section of audiences, produced at optimum costs and marketed around the world across diverse entertainment platforms. During Q2

    FY2019, we released a total of 17 films & 1 Digital series, comprising of the hit franchise Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, the critically acclaimed Manmarziyan, Vishal Bharadwaj directed Patakhaa, Saakshyam (Telugu), Tc.Gn – Take Care Good Night (Marathi) amongst others. Overseas releases of Batti Gul Meter Chalu (Hindi) and Nawabzaade (Hindi) further supported performance during the quarter.”

    “With our strategy of being a leading producer in digital content, we released an ErosNow1 8-episode original series directed by Rohan Sippy, Side Hero which was received very well by the global audiences. Going forward, we have a refreshing slate of high-potential ErosNow originals with crime drama Smoke releasing today. We believe with the roll-out of our original series we will be able to capture the attention of the fast growing millennial and post-millennial audiences,” said Lulla.

    “H2 FY19 has begun well for us with the successful release of Boyz 2 (Marathi), Tummbad as well as Andhadhun (overseas), Helicopter Eela (overseas) and Namaste England (overseas) at the box office. Further, we have a growing and compelling line-up for the remainder of FY 2019 and FY2020. As we look forward, our proven content acquisition and co-production model, our strong partnerships with Colour Yellow Production, Reliance Industries and the latest partnership V. Vijayendra Prasad as well as our Indo-China collaborations will be the key differentiator in the forthcoming quarters”

  • 70-80% of ALTBalaji traffic from telco tie-ups: Sunil Lulla

    70-80% of ALTBalaji traffic from telco tie-ups: Sunil Lulla

    MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms recently posted Q1 result where the TV business revenue remained flat while the digital venture ALTBalaji showed impressive result by acquiring 2.1 million new paid users excluding Reliance Jio platform users. For OTT platforms in India, telco deals have become important and ALTBalaji is not an exception. Balaji Telefilms Ltd group CEO Sunil Lulla said in an earnings call that about 70-80 per cent of traffic comes from telcos while the ARPU from the sector stands around Rs 15 per month. The company started telco deals last November with Vodafone following up with Jio and Airtel.

    “In terms of value it will be between 60 per cent and 70 per cent because the ARPU that we are getting through the non-telco, that is the direct downloads, is about Rs 25 a month and the ARPU we are getting from the telco business around Rs 15 a month,” Lulla commented. However, he denied revealing the churn rate on telcos.

    Along with good subscription growth, ALTBalaji’s revenue also picked pace reaching Rs 5.8 crore in Q1. The revenue without the impact of IND-AS 115 stood at Rs 7.1 crore. Currently, the platform has 21 original shows excluding kids content and comedy clips. Though the initial focus of the platform has been on creating Hindi dramas, the platform will add a Bhojpuri show to its regional content mix. To increase its appeal to Tamil audience, a market which has potential, it felt the need to create a reasonable library in the language. But until reaching the target of 30 shows, the team is not going to fully focus on Tamil library.

    “Right now Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam continue to be dubbed. Our real question is to get Tamil content onto our platform. We need to probably have a full fledged Tamil focus for which we will be able to create bandwidth only by October, November and December this year, which means the show will appear next financial year,” ALTBalaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya commented. “Bengali viewing audience or Marathi viewing audience can understand Hindi so we need to create that library of 10 to 15 shows and then enter the South market originally. Meanwhile, we do continue to have a dubbed presence in these markets,” he added.

    In an astute move ,Ekta Kapoor led production house this year retained the IP of the show Dil Hi To Hain  reversing the industry norm. While the broadcasting right is with Sony, it can stream the show on ALTBalaji also. Regarding whether Sony pays less than competition, Lulla disagreed. He added further that each show has its own price rather than a standard half an hour rate card depending on the production quality and star cast. Explaining the detail, he reaffirmed there has been no loss of revenue because of this digital right.

    While the TV production revenue remained flat across the last two quarters, three new show launches across broadcasters has been cited as the prime reason. For the very first time, the production house launched three shows in one month gaining the highest share post the IPL launch phase. “We have to incur costs in the beginning phase. This will definitely get dephased,” Lulla said confidently. Along with acquiring consumers for the digital platform and create a stable movie business, the company wants to ensure that the television business continues to ace the pack. It also hopes revenue will go up in the next quarters.

    “Our focus obviously is on a good value pricing and which is why the television business is very important to us as much as the OTT business is strong on investment because we are in different cycles. The OTT business is in early stage growth and it will see galloping stage growth and maturity is really far away, so we would have got many, many years ahead of it,” Lulla said later.

  • Eros International profits up in first quarter

    Eros International profits up in first quarter

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla-led Indian film and media company Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported 25.3 per cent year on year (y-o-y) jump in profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Q1 2018, quarter, period under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (Q1 2018). Eros reported PAT at Rs 59.95 as compared to PAT of Rs 47.86 crore in Q1 2018. On account of items that will be classified later as a profit or a loss, total comprehensive income more than doubled (up 1.31 times)y-o-y to Rs 100.91 crore in Q1 2019 from Rs 43.56 crore.Calculated simple EBIDTA for the period under review increased 48.6 per cent y-o-y to Rs 93.33 crore (42.8 per cent of operating revenue) from Rs 47.86 crores (24.2 per cent of operating revenue.)

    Eros operating revenue in Q1 2019 declined 16.1 per cent y-o-y to Rs 217.93 crore from Rs 259.62 crore. Total Income declined 18.2 per cent y-o-y to Rs 223.57 crore from Rs 273.36 crore.

    The company says in its earnings presentation that revenues during the quarter were driven by releases of Bhavesh Joshi(Hindi), Meri Nimmo (Digital release), Blackmail (Overseas), Haami (Bengali), Goodnight City (Bengali), Alinagarer

    Golokdhadha (Bengali) and others. Eros released a total of 14 films during the quarter, consisting of 1 medium budget and 13 low budget films  as compared to 5 films in Q1  2018, consisting of 1 High Budget, 1 Medium Budget and 3 Low Budget Films). TV and Others segment included satellite sales of catalogue films to Zee TV and others.

    Eros says that Theatrical Revenues contributed – 30.7 per cent, Overseas Revenues – 12.6 per cent and Television & Others – 56.7 per cent as a percentage of income from operations.

    Company speak

    Eros executive vice chairman and MD Lulla  said: “We have started the year on an excellent note on operational and strategic parameters. Our strategy of a content driven approach reflected in a robust green lighting process enabling us to de-risk our model. Our film content is deeply researched and evaluated for its revenue potential across platforms and markets by our business leaders, due to which we were able to again deliver margin enhancing performance in Q1 2019.

    The new JV kicking in with V. Vijayendra Prasad for Hindi and regional content and Reliance Eros Productions LLP for USD 150 million already in process is bound further boost our content strategy and reflect in our financial performance in the forthcoming quarters. The first quarter was marked by the successful releases of our films which contributed to the overall growth. Our strong slate across languages, active pre-sales and catalogue monetization of our films ‘ library further supported the performance during the quarter. Looking ahead, we have drawn a compelling line-up for the remainder of the year featuring high-potential movies such as Color Yellow Productions Happy Phir Bhaag Jayegi, Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyan, the IndiaChina co-productions, Panda by Kabir Khan, trilingual Haathi mere Saathi and multiple other films across languages.

    Lulla further added, “As always, we continue to be a pioneer in industry innovations in catering to the changing tastes and preferences of the audiences. In this quarter, we released Meri Nimmo straight-to-digital on the Eros Now platform. I am happy to share that the film received a tremendous response from the audience and we look forward to launching more such films and originals on the Eros Now platform during the course of this fiscal. Along with it the roll-out of fresh and strong original content, makes us confident that the pace of subscriber addition for Eros Now will further accelerate, going from 50 to 100 cities and almost doubling the subscriber base to 16 million by end of the Fiscal year.”

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by the company

    Total Expenditure (TE) during the period under review declined 32.8 per cent y-o-y to Rs 146.45 crore as compared to Rs 217.81 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

    Films rights costs including amortisation costs in Q1 2019 declined 29.6 per cent y-o-y to Rs 90.15 crore from Rs 128.12 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Employee Benefits Expense in Q1 2019 declined 14.5 per cent y-o-y to Rs 13.54 crore as compared to Rs 15.83 crore in Q1 2018. Other expenses (OE) in the Q1 2019 reduced 63.8 per cent y-o-y to Rs 19.15 crore as compared to Rs 52.84 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Finance costs in Q1 2019 increased 5 per cent y-o-y to in Q1 2019  Rs 19.5 crore from Rs 18.58 crore.

  • Eros International reaffirms regional distribution expertise with ‘Saakshyam’

    Eros International reaffirms regional distribution expertise with ‘Saakshyam’

    MUMBAI: Eros International is looking to reaffirm its distribution expertise in the regional markets as it is set to release the highly anticipated Telugu action fantasy thriller Saakshyam on 27 July. The leading company in film entertainment industry will release the film in association with Abhishek Pictures.

    The action entertainer features superstar Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas and Pooja Hegde as main leads while Abhishek Nama has produced and Sriwass has directed the much-hyped movie. Well-known music director Harshavardhan Rameshwar has composed the music in the film with Arthur A Wilson as cinematographer and national award-winning fight choreographer Peter Hein. The story is based on five elements of nature.

    “We are delighted to partner with Abhishek Pictures and come on board this eagerly awaited release. With a hugely popular cast, high octane entertainment and a talented director like Sriwass with who we hope to recreate the success of our previous venture dictator, we anticipate the film to be a mass entertainer. Our association on the film continues our focus to make strategic inroads into south Indian cinema,” Eros International Media managing director Sunil Lulla said.

  • Eros International profit margins up in FY 2018

    Eros International profit margins up in FY 2018

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla-led Indian film and media company Eros International Media Ltd (Eros) saw EBITDA for the quarter ended 31 March 2018 (FY 2018, year, fiscal under review) of Rs 328.21 crore and a margin of 34.2 per cent of operating revenue, about 985 basis points more than the margin of 24.3 per cent for the previous year. PAT margin in FY 2018 also increased 606 basis points to 22.89 per cent of total revenue from 16.83 per cent in the previous fiscal. EBIT margin was 36.42 per cent of total income in FY 2018 as compared to 26.07 per cent of total income in the previous fiscal.

    Eros says that in FY 2018 it redefined its portfolio mix – margin expansion by investing in content driven films with high ROI potential and where the content risk was largely covered, in turn making Eros lesser dependent on box office numbers. The company’s revenues declined sharply in the year under review as compared to the previous year. Eros net sales/income from operations declined 31.4 per cent to Rs 960.16 crore in fiscal 2018 from Rs 1,399.70 crore in the previous year. Total income reduced 30.1 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 1,010.01 crore from Rs 1,445.28 crore in FY 2017.

    Though EBITDA and EBIT margins were higher, overall, both these profit matrices declined in terms of rupees. EBITDA in FY 2018 at Rs 328.31 crore was 3.7 per cent lower than Rs 340.75 crore in FY 2017. EBIT in FY 2018 at Rs 367.88 crore was 2.4 per cent lower than the Rs 376.75 crore in the previous fiscal. PAT in the year under review at Rs 231.22 crore was five per cent lower than Rs 243.29 crore in FY 2017.

    Eros reported 35.7 per cent decline in total expenditure in FY 2018 at Rs 722.66 crore from Rs 1,123.05 crore in FY 2017. Films rights costs including amortisation costs declined to almost half (down 49.1 per cent) in FY 2018 at Rs 399.27 crore from Rs 784.84 crore in the previous fiscal. Employee benefits expense in FY 2018 declined 16.4 per cent to Rs 58.94 crore from Rs 70.53 crore in FY 2017.

    Finance costs increased 47.7 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 80.53 crore from Rs 54.22 crore in the previous year. Other expenses reduced 12.8 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 175.05 crore from Rs 200.64 crore in FY 2017.

    In its investor presentation, Eros says that revenue breakup as percentage of revenue from operations for FY 2018 was theatrical revenue 42.8 per cent; television and others 46.3 per cent; and overseas 10.9 percent. For FY 2017, the company had indicated break up as theatrical 42.5 per cent; television and others 31.1 per cent; overseas 26.4 per cent. Hence, contribution of revenue from television and others in FY 2018 was much higher than in the previous year. Theatrical revenue was about the same in both the years, and revenue from overseas declined sharply in FY 2018 as compared to FY 2017.

    The company released 25 films – one high budget, four medium budget and 19 low budget films in FY 2018. Of these films, 14 were Hindi, one was Tamil/Telugu and nine were in regional language films.

    In FY 2017, Eros had released 44 films – five high budget films, 10 medium budget films and 29 low budget films. 11 films were Hindi, 18 in Tamil/Telugu and 15 were regional films.

    Eros says that it remains focused on its film pipeline, with 40 to 50 films across languages slated to release during financial year 2019.

    Eros Now

    The company says that its subscriber base for its OTT platform Eros Now has grown to 100 million (10 crore, 1,000 lakh) in FY 2018 from 60 million (6 crore, 600 lakh) at the end of the previous year. Paying subscriber base for the platform has grown to 7.1 million (0.71 crore, 71 lakh) in FY 2018 from 2.1 millon (0.21 crore, 21 lakh) at the end of the previous year.

    Company speak

    Eros executive chairman and managing director Lulla said, “This year has been an inflection point for Eros where we have truly turned the corner and grown in to India’s first fully vertically integrated independent studio. The pioneering spirit is prevalent in our leadership DNA as we further consolidate a fragmented market place as well as making Indian filmed entertainment truly global. As the dynamics of the country change with connectivity at the core of distribution we are uniquely positioned to leverage these trends with content being the key driving force. Our strategy of a content driven approach reflected in a robust green lighting process enables us to de-risk our model with an increasingly successful slate, with Newton India’s entry to the Oscars, hit comedy Shubh Mangal Savdhan and sports based drama Mukkabaaz.

    “Additionally the democratisation of theatrical consumption of content has skewed our strategy to be increasingly focused on catering to the regional demographic which is reflected in our slate mix Aamhi Doghi (Marathi), Rong Beronger Kori (Bengali), Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu (Tamil), Aake (Kannada), Viswa  Vikhyatharaya Payyanmar (Malayalam) amongst others.

    “Looking ahead to this coming year we are excited about our future slate with a trilingual remake of our classic library film Haathi Mere Saathi directed by Prabhu Salomon, starring Rana Daggubati as well as Bhavesh Joshi.  Leveraging our group’s strong talent relationships built over the past 40 years is also key to our growth trajectory. The relationship we share with Colour Yellow Productions and Anand L Rai has enabled us not to only to have a strong theatrical release pipeline with Manmarziyan and sequel to blockbuster film Happy Bhag Jayegi, Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi starring Sonakshi Sinha, but also to break the norms across the entertainment ecosystem. We successfully premiered India’s first straight to digital film, Eros Now original, Meri Nimmo on our platform. As we make strides foraying into original content, we are confident our film and originals slate will contribute further to accelerating Eros Now’s paying subs growth which this year itself is over 270 per cent.

    “With content slate and scale being a key driver, we have also entered into the strategic content partnership with Reliance Industries to jointly produce and consolidate content across India. The $150 million joint venture adds significant scale to Eros’ pre existing slate while mitigating investment risks as we benefit by leveraging our robust distribution network. We look forward to collaboratively growing this joint venture and further strengthening our fundamentals; content creation, distribution and a robust balance sheet allowing us to experience momentous improvements in our margins.

    “We have ended the fiscal with a very strong quarter with an EBIT growth of 61.5 percent and a PAT growth of 80.4 per cent. For the full year FY2018, the company has witnessed the EBIT margin increase at 10.3 per cent and an increase of 4.9 per cent PAT margin. We look forward to fiscal 2019 by further proving our strategies and paving the road ahead for a truly global Indian entertainment experience.”

  • Sunil Lulla joins Balaji Telefilms as group CEO

    Sunil Lulla joins Balaji Telefilms as group CEO

    MUMBAI: Indian production company Balaji Telefilms has appointed Sunil Lulla as its new group chief executive officer. His new role will be effective from 25 May 2018. He will replace Sameer Nair who quit the company to join Applause Entertainment.

    Speaking on his appointment, Lulla says, “I am incredibly excited to join Balaji Telefilms at this stage of the company’s evolution into a B2C media business. Balaji Telefilms has a great combination of engaging and compelling content and distribution on the back of explosive growth in online video consumption. Balaji Telefilms is well positioned to become a leading player in the Indian media sector and I am motivated to join the leadership team and all the great people that have fuelled Balaji Telefilms success so far.”

    Balaji Telefilms managing director Shobha Kapoor adds, “We are pleased that Sunil will be joining us as group CEO and are confident that he is the right person to lead Balaji to the next stage of growth and value creation. He is a seasoned leader with a stellar leadership reputation and brings with him a wealth of consumer business experience. The Indian media sector is undergoing massive change which also creates enormous opportunities for us at Balaji Telefilms and Sunil will lead the efforts with the rest of the team to seize these opportunities and create value for all our stakeholders.”

    Lulla has over three decades of experience across media, entertainment and broadcast industry. In his last stint, he was the chairman and managing director of ad agency Grey Group India. He has worked with Saregama, MTV, Sony and other networks and launched the TV network for Bennett Coleman & Co, The Times Television Network.

  • Eros International’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan grosses over Rs.169.17 crores (USD 25.95 million) in first 10 days of release

    Eros International’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan grosses over Rs.169.17 crores (USD 25.95 million) in first 10 days of release

    MUMBAI: Eros International Media Ltd, a leading global film company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced Producer Salman Khan Film’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan has collected over Rs. 160 crores within ten days of its release in China. More than two years since it opened in India, Bajrangi Bhaijaan released in China on March 2 this year and continues to enjoy a very strong box office performance earning Rs. 169.17 crores (USD 25.95 million) since its release.

    Marking Indian super star Salman Khan’s first ever movie to release in the China market, Eros released the film in association with China’s E Stars Films Ltd and Salman Khan Ventures. After breaking several records during its Eid release in 2015, Bajrangi Bhaijaan crosses another key threshold, with the film taking a commanding start at the Chinese box office, raking in Rs. 14.5 crores on its opening day, debuting at number 7. The Kabir Khan-directed film trended extremely well through its release, climbing to number 4 box office position on its first Monday. It crossed the Rs100 crore mark within a week of release and closed the second weekend with Rs 169.17 crore ($25.95 million) in collections, retaining the number 5 position in the Chinese box office, despite new releases over the weekend. 

    The Indian drama directed by Kabir Khan stars leading Indian film actor Salman Khan as Bajrangi, an ardent devotee of Hindu deity Hanuman, and his arduous journey to reunite a six-year-old Pakistani girl – lost in India – with her parents, back to her hometown in Pakistan.

    Speaking on the film’s performance, Eros International Media Ltd, Managing Director, Sunil Lulla said, “With the success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan and previous Indian releases, China has emerged as a key market and a major box office earner for Indian releases. We are delighted with the unstoppable run the film is enjoying and how the Chinese audiences have embraced the cross-border friendship story, its emotions, the direction and our much-loved superstar Salman Khan”.

    “We are extremely encouraged by the success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan in China and very excited about our next to roll Indo-China co-production, once again to be directed by Kabir Khan”, he continued.

    Recognizing the significant market opportunity in China, Eros and director Kabir Khan had earlier announced coming together for a travel drama, The Zookeeper (working title) which will be shot in Hindi and Mandarin languages. An A-list actor has been signed up for the project which shall be announced shortly.

  • Eros reports higher profit margin despite fewer releases

    Eros reports higher profit margin despite fewer releases

    BENGALURU: Sunil Lulla-led Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported 21 per cent margin (on operating income) for consolidated profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter ended 30 September 2017 (Q2 FY 2017-18) as compared with 12.8 per cent margin for the corresponding quarter a last ago. The company’s revenue shrunk by 44 per cent during the quarter under review as against Q2 FY 2016-17. Eros released just seven films (two medium and five small-budget films) in Q2 FY 2017-18 as compared with 17 (including two high-budget films) in the quarter ago quarter. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin on total income for the quarter under review was 31.7 per cent as compared with 19.9 per cent in Q2 FY 2016-17. Though the profit margin was higher in this year’s quarter, overall actual profit was lower than the profit reported for Q2 FY 2016-17 because revenue during the period last year was much higher.

    Company speak

    Eros vice chairman and managing director Sunil Lulla said, “We have reported healthy performance during the quarter on the back of strong releases, satellite sales, and higher contribution from library monetisation. During Q2-18, we released films such as the hit comedy Shubh Mangal Savdhan, the much-celebrated Newton starring Rajkumar Rao, the Tiger Shroff‐starrerMunna Michael, Trinity’s first release Sniff, and Projapati Biskut(Bengali).”

    “It is a matter of pride for us thatNewton was chosen as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars 2018. This underscores our strategy of focussing on content-driven films rather than high-budget, big-star formula films. During the period, the company also continued to focus towards investing in a Hindi and regional film language slate and Trinity Pictures, India’s first franchise‐driven studio,” revealed Lulla.

    “Looking forward, we have a host of highly anticipated releases coming up, which include Mukkabaaz in January,Happy Bhaag Jayegi Returns,Chandamama Door Ke, the India‐China co‐productions, Panda by Kabir Khan, Trinity Pictures’ Elephant Man by national-award-winning director Prabhu Solomon, and the Colour Yellow Productions film starring Shah Rukh Khan,” he said.

    The reported numbers

    Eros reported operating revenue of Rs 2,682.6 million for Q2 FY 2017-18 as compared with Rs 4,787.9 million in Q2 FY 2016-17. Total income, including other income, for the quarter under review declined by 44 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,739.3 million from Rs 4,887.3 million. The company has given the breakup of revenue in its investor presentation for the quarter as follows: 36.7 per cent for theatrical; 13.3 per cent for overseas revenue; and 50. Per cent for television & others.

    Profit after tax in Q2 FY 2017-18 declined by 8 per cent y-o-y to Rs 575.1 million from Rs 625.2 million. EBIT was 10.7 per cent lower y-o-y in the quarter under review at Rs 867.5 million as compared with Rs 971.5 million. Operating profit (EBIDTA) for the quarter declined by 6.4 per cent y-o-y to Rs 835.2 million (31.1 per cent margin) from Rs 892.2 million (18.6 per cent margin).

    Total expenditure declined by 48.2 per cent y-o-y to Rs 2,085.4 million during the quarter from Rs 4,022.4 million. Film rights costs, including amortisation costs, are a major cost head for Eros. These costs declined to less than half y-o-y to Rs 1,189.5 million in Q2 FY 2017-18 from Rs 2,762.9 million Q2 FY 2016-17.

    Employee benefits expense declined by 9.4 per cent y-o-y to Rs 150.4 million from Rs 166.0 million. Finance costs doubled to 100.4 per cent in the quarter under review to Rs 213.6 million from Rs 106.6 million. Other expenses decreased 21.9 per cent y-o-y in Q2 FY 2017-18 to Rs 507.1 million from Rs 649.7 million.