ITV

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  • Siti Networks’ operating profit more than doubles in first quarter

    BENGALURU:  The Subhash Chandra led Essel group’s television cable network company Siti Networks Limited (Siti) reported EBIDTA including other income or operating profit of Rs 1,071.65 million (28.9 percent of Total Income) for the quarter ended 30 June 2017 (Q1-18, current quarter). The company’s operating profit for the current quarter was more than double (up 2.26 times) the Rs 474.09 million (16.5 percent of Total Income) the company had reported for the corresponding year ago quarter (y-o-y) and 54.2 percent higher than the Rs 694.88 million (20.6 percent of Total Income) reported for the immediate trailing quarter Q4-17 (q-o-q).

    Consequently, the company reported a lower total comprehensible loss in the current quarter at Rs 151.32 million, which was a little less than one third (1/2.87 times) the total comprehensible loss of Rs 435.26 million in Q1-17 and less than a fourth (1/4.26 times) the total comprehensible loss of Rs 647.16 million in Q4-17.

    Siti’s total income for Q1-18 was 29.4 percent higher y-o-y at Rs 3,711.13 million as compared to Rs 2,868.82 and 10.1 percent higher q-o-q as compared to Rs 3,370.46 million. Revenue from operations increased 29.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 3,649.57 million from Rs 2,819.67 million and increased 12.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 3,255.18 million.

    Breakup of revenue

    Siti’s subscription revenue in the current quarter increased 34.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,700 million from Rs 1,263 million and increased 6.3 percent q-o-q from Rs 1,600 million. Carriage revenue in the current quarter increased 6.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 765 million from Rs 720 million, but declined 4.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 798 million. Activation revenue in Q1-18 more than doubled (increased 2.32 times) y-o-y to Rs 849 million from Rs 366 million and was 75.4 percent more q-o-q than Rs 484 million. Broadband internet revenue for Q1-18 increased 32.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 258 million from Rs 195 million, but declined 3 percent q-o-q from Rs 266 million.

    Subscription numbers

    The company says that it deployed more than 1.6 million set top boxes during the quarter in West Bengal, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, primarily in Phase 4 areas. It says that its digital video base was about 11.6 million at the exit of June 2017 and that prepaid migration is on track with 1.16 million subscribers across 134 locations brought under its ambit by August 2017. Siti says that during the year 0.05 million of its customers adopted HD services taking the total HD customer base to 0.22 million by exit Q1-18.

    Siti’s broadband internet subscriber base increased by approximately 12,000 to 0.24 million in Q1-18 from 0.228 million in the immediate trailing quarter. The company says that as a strategy it increased focus on higher ‘Lock-in’ broadband internet plans in Q1-18. About 40 percent of its acquisitions are now coming on longer duration plans. Siti says that it is targeting to take this figure to over 50 percent in Q2-18.

    Company speak

    Siti executive director Sidharth Balakrishna said, ““SITI continues to hold a strong position in the market with record customer additions.We are well positioned to monetize this base from Q2 onwards and maintain a strong growth trajectory. In Broadband, we will selectively expand our offerings and drive increased customer focus. We are also making significant efforts to strengthen processes and optimise costs going forward, while also enhancing customer offerings. This along with a focus on certain revenue streams could potentially provide upsides going forward”

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Siti

    Consolidated Total Expenditure increased 14.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 3,696.52 million (99.6 percent of Total Income) in Q1-16 from Rs 3,238.75 million (112.9 percent of Total Income) in Q1-18 and increased 0.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 3.680.87 million (109.2 percent of Total Income).

    Consolidated Employee Benefit Expense increased 22.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 234.46 million (6.3 percent of Total Income) in the current quarter from Rs 191.22 million (6.7 percent of Total Income) million but declined 3.9 percent q-o-q from Rs 243.97 million (7.2 percent of Total Income).

    Consolidated Carriage sharing, pay channel and related costs in Q1-18 increased 5.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,560.55 million (42.1 percent of Total Income) from Rs 1,484.36.36 million (51.7 percent of Total Income) but declined 3 percent q-o-q from Rs 1,608/94 million (47.7 percent of Total Income).

    Consolidated Finance costs in the current quarter increased 11.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 331.03 million (8.9 percent of Total Income) from Rs 296.71 million (10.3 percent of Total Income), but declined 2.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 338..02 million (10 percent of Total Income).

    Consolidated Other expenses increased 30.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 841.78 million (22.7 percent of Total Income) in Q1-18 from Rs 643.83 million (22.4 percent of Total Income) and increased 11.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 757.12 million (22.5 percent of Total Income).

    Also Read :

    Rajesh Sethi re-designated chief  biz transformation officer of Siti Networks

    Rajesh Sethi succeeds Wadhwa as ED & CEO of SITI Networks

    SPN India-SITI Networks dispute: TDSAT directs SITI to sign SPN RIO agreement (updated)

  • Siti revenue up across all streams

    BENGALURU: Siti Networks Limited (Siti) reported 4.4 percent growth in revenue for the year ended 31 March 2017 (FY-17, current year or fiscal) as compared to the previous fiscal. Consolidated revenue growth was driven by revenue growth in all the streams that contribute to Siti’s numbers. The company in its earnings release says that its broadband internet services revenue doubled to Rs 970 million, Subscription revenues grew 39 percent to Rs 5,690 million and Carriage revenues increased 17 percent to Rs 3,000 million in the current year vis-à-vis the previous year.

    Overall, Siti reported consolidated total income of Rs 12,208.01 million and Rs 11,691.56 million in the current and previous years respectively. Operating revenue in FY-17 grew 4.3 percent to Rs11,949.16 million from Rs 11,460.40 million in FY-16.

    The company says that it deployed more than 2.1 million set top boxes during the year despite the delay in implementation of phase 3 digitization due to litigation. It says that its digital video base was about 10 million at the exit of March 2017. Siti says that during the year 0.11 million of its customers adopted HD services taking the total HD customer base to 0.16 million by exit FY-17.

    Siti has bolstered its local channels content with tie-ups with Eros, Ultra, Cineprime, ADB Mobile and Entertainment and now has a portfolio of 130 plus local channels on a pan-India basis. It is also looking to add 7 to 8 new local channels for its North India viewers under certain genres and languages.

    The company says that Siti-Ditto OTT services grew strongly with the addition of 29,000 customers during the quarter – 1 January to 31 March 2017, taking the total customer base to 60,000.

    The company’s bottom line however showed some declines. Consolidated loss was higher at Rs 1,792.31 million in the current year as compared to a loss of Rs 412.91 million in the previous year. Consolidated EBIDTA including other revenue in fiscal 2017 at Rs 2,286.94 million (19.1 percent of Total Income) declined 15 percent from Rs 2,690.57 million (23.5 percent of Total Revenue).

    Company speak

    Siti executive director and CEO V D Wadhwa said: “Our tenacious execution has ensured stellar growth in our video revenue whereas broadband growth is falling short of our expectations. The management is highly committed towards improving monetization and operating profit across all phases, during the current year. We are well positioned to reap the benefits of improved monetization across phases as we simultaneously continue to expand our Broadband reach. The implementation of GST is expected to simplify the collection process, bring in greater transparency and will provide a boost to the growth of the sector.”

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Siti

    Consolidated Total Expenditure increased 6.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 13,607.36 million (111.5 percent of Total Income) in FY-17 from Rs 12,054.82 million (103.1 percent of Total Income) in FY-16

    Consolidated Employee Benefit Expense increased 32 percent to Rs 832.90 million (6.8 percent of Total Income) in the current quarter from Rs 630.90 million (5.4 percent of Total Income) million in FY-16. 

    Consolidated Carriage sharing, pay channel and related costs in FY-17 increased 5 percent to Rs 5,971.33 million (48.9 percent of Total Income) from Rs 5,686.36 million (48.6 percent of Total Income) in the previous year.

    Consolidated Finance costs in the current year reduced 8.9 percent to Rs 1274.47 million (10.4 percent of Total Income) from Rs 1,399.29 million (12 percent of Total Income).

    Consolidated Other expenses increased 28.4 percent to Rs 2,954.67 million (24.2 percent of Total Income) in FY-17 from Rs 2,302.03 million (19.7 percent of Total Income) in FY-16.

  • SES pioneers first Ultra HD transmission

    SES pioneers first Ultra HD transmission

    MUMBAI: Global satellite operator SES has announced that, together with its partners Harmonic, which offers video delivery infrastructure, and Broadcom which offers semiconductor solutions, it has pioneered what it says is the first Ultra HD transmission in the new HEVC standard live from an Astra satellite at 19.2 degrees East. The HEVC standard features an up to 50 per cent encoding efficiency improvement, compared to previous test broadcasts in MPEG-4 AVC (H.264).

    The end-to-end demonstration which was presented at the SES Industry Days in Luxembourg used Harmonic’s ProMedia Xpress and a HEVC decoder reference-design system based on Broadcom’s BCM7445 device for receiving HEVC encoded Ultra-HD television transmission. The signal was broadcast in DVB-S2 using a data rate of 20 Mbit/s.

    The live demonstration for the first time broadcasts a full 3840×2160 pixel Ultra HD picture in HEVC, while previous demonstrations were either broadcast in H.264 or using 4 HD pictures in parallel. SES first live-broadcast a full 3840×2160 pixel Ultra HD picture using the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) standard at IBC 2012.

    SES VP reception systems Thomas Wrede said, “We are very proud to present the first Ultra HD demo in the HEVC standard on satellite. SES has once again taken a leadership role in the industry by broadcasting the first real Ultra HD picture in a commercially realistic bandwidth.

    “We are convinced that the HEVC standard will become the option of choice for TV operators broadcasting Ultra HD content and expect the industry to develop prototype Ultra HD receivers in the coming months. With this initiative SES will be significantly driving the Ultra HD ecosystem forward and provide a 24/7 test channel to its industry partners.”

    Harmonic senior director of emerging technology, strategy Ian Trow said, “SES has achieved an important industry first with Harmonic and Broadcom. This DVB-S2 transmission clearly demonstrates the benefit of HEVC encoding using the Harmonic ProMedia in a live to air Satellite application. A significant compression improvement has been achieved using HEVC when compared to previous Ultra HD deployments using MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)”

    Broadband Communications Group associate product line director Joseph Del Rio said, “Broadcom is working to advance the adoption of HEVC technologies – and ultimately the distribution of UltraHD content – with SES. HEVC is the catalyst that will drive UltraHD television with its telepresence-like resolution to consumers.”