BENGALURU: Videocon d2h Limited reported 25.2 per cent growth in gross subscriber addition and 20.6 per cent growth in net subscriber addition in FY-2015 (year ended 31 March, 2015). Coupled with higher average revenue per user (ARPU) for FY-2015 at Rs 196, and Rs 202 in Q4-2015, the company reported 32.5 per cent growth in revenue from operations in FY-2015 at Rs 2337.7 crore as compared to the Rs 1764.4 crore in FY-2014. The company’s subscription revenue increased 38.3 per cent in the current year to Rs 2058.1 crore from Rs 1487.7 crore in the previous year.
Videocon d2h says that it was able to push through an inflation linked ARPU increase in February 2015. As a result, Q4-2015 ARPU was Rs 202, a 11.7 per cent increase over FY-2015.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore.
"We are pleased to announce that we successfully listed American Depositary Shares on NASDAQ in April, becoming the most valued Indian company to be listed on the NASDAQ. We are happy to share our results for fiscal 2015. We maintained our market leadership in subscriber growth and reported key financial metrics ahead of the guidance provided during the listing process. We believe, with our strong balance sheet and continued momentum, we are well-positioned for the future," said Videocon d2h executive chairman Saurabh Dhoot.
Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera added, "The Pay TV segment in India is positioned for extraordinary growth over the next few years with millions of new TV homes being created on account of the strong economic outlook in India as well as the Government of India's initiative to roll out its digitalization mandate across the country. We believe that 90-100 million homes will be making the switch to digital platforms, which will be available to the DTH and digital cable operators. We are well positioned to benefit from this and we believe we will take the largest share of this opportunity, as we have in the past. With strong economic growth outlook for India, overall media sector is expected to grow in the years to come. We believe this will help grow ARPU, TV penetration and increase HD uptake leading to stronger revenue growth for Pay TV in general and Videocon d2h in particular."
Loss down, EBIDTA up in FY-2015
Videocon d2h reported lower net loss in FY-2015 at Rs 272.7 crore as compared to the Rs 319.5 crore in the previous year. Adjusted EBIDTA increased 55.3 per cent in the current year to Rs 609.1 crore (margin 26.1 per cent) from Rs 319.5 crore (margin 34.1 per cent), the company said in its earnings release on NASDAQ.
Subscriber numbers, content cost
Gross subscribers increased 26.4 lakh in FY-2015 to 130.9 lakh from 104.5 lakh in FY-2014. Net subscribers increased by 17.4 lakh to 101.8 lakh in the current year as compared to 84.4 lakh in the previous year. Subscriber churn per month increased fractionally in FY-2015 to 0.8 per cent as compared to 0.76 percent in the previous year. The company says that almost 30 per cent of incremental net subscribers opted for the HD service. Videocon d2h says that its HD subscribers base now represents almost 10 per cent of the total net subscriber base, up from five per cent in FY-2014. The company expects HD penetration to increase in the coming fiscal year, with an attendant impact on ARPU.
Videocon d2h reported higher content cost at 36.2 per cent of revenue in FY-2015 as compared to the 34.1 per cent of revenue in the previous year.
Videocon d2h has a market share of roughly 20 per cent of the DTH net subscriber as on March 2015, up from nine per cent four years ago.
