MUMBAI: IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL) is hoping to achieve a positive profit after tax for the financial year 2019-20. In FY 2019, the company’s subscription revenue grew by 11 per cent and subscriber base by 10 per cent over FY 2018.
Hinduja Venture Chairman Ashok P Hinduja commented in its annual report 2018-19, “IMCL along with its subsidiary companies has an active subscriber base of 5.1 million. This is expected to grow substantially in the coming years. With all these positive developments, IMCL is expected to return a positive profit after tax in the years ahead.”
During the year gone by in 2018-19, the NXT Digital and IN Digital - distribution platforms of IMCL have taken giant strides not only in terms of the subscriber base but also in terms of its subscription revenue.
Sharing his view on the TRAI new tariff order, Hinduja said, “Mandating a minimum assured distribution fee to the distribution platforms like IMCL from the broadcasters, NTO brings in a new regime that largely benefits digital platform operators (DPO) like IMCL to retain an operating margin as against the previous model wherein IMCL was effectively subsidising the broadcaster costs to the consumers.”
He further said that the successful implementation of the new tariff order by IMCL while simultaneously ensuring that there is least disruption to customer service has been very well recognised by the industry and all its stakeholders.
During the year 2018-19, the company introduced hybrid high definition set top boxes in the market for the first time. It also introduced VAS services channels – branded “NXT Services” across multiple genres and for all age groups – a bouquet which is very popular among consumers.
IMCL has already signed up half a million subscribers on managed services model whereby small DPOs can operate profitably by using the infrastructure of IMCL on an opex model.
During the year under review, IMCL posted a positive operating profit in the last quarter of the year. The company also informed that it has achieved a collection to billing ratio at 99.5 per cent which is highest in the industry.
