BENGALURU: The Subhash Chandra led content and broadcast player Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) reported a 25.4 per cent hike in advertisement revenue in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016) to Rs 779.93 crore (58.21 per cent of Total Revenue or TR) as compared to the Rs 622.10 crore (57.3 per cent of TR) in the corresponding quarter of last year. This is also 16.5 per cent more than the Rs 669.66 crore (49.7 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Profit after Tax (PAT) in Q1-2016 increased by 15.8 per cent to Rs 243.76 crore (18.2 per cent of TR) as compared to the Rs 210.57 crore (19.4 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015 and 5.6 per cent more than the Rs 230.77 crore (17.1 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
Zeel’s PAT was affected by lower q-o-q subscription revenue and other sales and service income. Subscription revenue in Q1-2016 was at Rs 462.53 crore (34.5 per cent of TR) just 4.5 per cent more than the Rs 442.77 crore (40.8 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015 and 9.4 per cent lower than the Rs 510.77 crore (37.9 per cent of TR) in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company said that during the quarter, domestic subscription revenues in Q1-2016 stood at Rs 368 crore, which was 13.7 per cent more than the Rs 323.8 crore in Q1-2015, but 11.9 per cent lower than the Rs 417.5 crore in Q4-2015. International subscription revenue stood at Rs 94.5 crore in Q1-2016, which was 20.5 per cent lower as compared to the Rs 118.9 crore in Q1-2015 but 1.3 per cent higher than the Rs 93.3 crore in Q4-2015.
While y-o-y other sales and service income more than quadrupled (was up 367.6 per cent) in Q1-2016 to Rs 97.4 crore (7.3 per cent of TR) as compared to Rs 20.83 crore (1.9 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015, it was 41.5 per cent lower than the Rs 166.62 crore (12.4 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
The company’s y-o-y operating EBIDTA (Earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation) increased fractionally by 0.7 per cent in Q1-2016 to Rs 311.20 crore (23.3 per cent of TR) from Rs 309.17 crore (28.5 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015 and was 14.9 per cent more than the Rs 270.75 crore (20.1 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Other results reported by Zeel for Q1-2016:
TR in the current quarter increased 23.4 per cent to Rs 1339.86 crore from Rs 1085.70 crore in Q1-2015, but was 0.5 per cent lower than the Rs 1347.05 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
Total Expense (TE) in Q1-2016 at Rs 1045.47 crore (78 per cent of TR) was 31.3 per cent more than the Rs 796.10 crore (73.3 per cent of TR) in the corresponding year ago quarter, but 4.4 per cent lower than the Rs 1093.70 crore (81.2 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Zeel’s operating cost increased 40.7 per cent to Rs 610.76 crore (45.6 per cent of TR) in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 434.02 crore (40 per cent of TR) in the corresponding year ago quarter, but fell 1.5 per cent from the Rs 620.09 crore (46 percent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Other expense in Q1-2016 fell 20.6 per cent to Rs 183.24 crore (13.7 per cent of TR) from Rs 230.80 crore (21.3 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015 and was 9.7 per cent lower than the Rs 202.86 crore (15.1 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Employee Benefit Expense increased 23.5 per cent to Rs 138.01 crore (10.3 per cent of TR) in Q1-2016 from Rs 111.71 crore (10.3 per cent of TR) in Q1-2015 and was 10.6 per cent more than the Rs 120.89 crore (nine per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Advertisement and Publicity expense was 20.3 per cent more in Q1-2016 at Rs 96.65 crore (7.2 per cent of TR) as compared to the Rs 80.37 crore (8.4 percent of TR) in Q1-2015, but 27 per cent lower than the Rs 132.46 crore (9.8 per cent of TR) in Q4-2015.
Company speak
Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra said, "The Indian Media and Entertainment Industry is making strides in the economy, backed by rising advertising revenues and consumer payments. 61 per cent of all households in India are now equipped with a television making us the second largest TV viewership market after China. With digitization, subscription revenues in urban and rural areas are growing , resulting in a healthy impact on the industry."
Chandra added, "Zee has recorded a satisfactory performance during the first quarter. Our investments have resulted in organic growth, which is in line with our expectations. We continue to build Zee’s presence in this highly competitive space by creating compelling content across genres and by pursuing new opportunities that will yield long term growth."
Zeel managing director and CEO Puneet Goenka said, "We continue to experience growth in both advertising and subscription revenues through the launch of new and innovative programming. We believe that by delivering excellent content we can benefit from monetizing revenues from an advertising and subscription standpoint."
