Updated: 07:07 PM

BENGALURU: The Subhash Chandra led content and broadcast player Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) reported a 23.98 per cent increase in PAT for FY-2014 at Rs 892.08 crore (20.18 per cent of total income from operations) as compared to the Rs 718.15 crore (19.45 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2013.

PAT in Q4-2014 at Rs 217.58 crore (18.78 per cent of total income from operations) was 1.87 per cent higher than the Rs 213.59 crore (17.97 per cent of total income from operations) in Q3-2014 and 21.15 per cent more than the Rs 179.60 crore (18.63 per cent of total income from operations) in Q4-2013.

Chandra informed that the ZEEL board had recommended a dividend of Re 1 per share.

Notes: (1) The results mentioned in this report are consolidated results of ZEEL and its subsidiaries.

(2) 100,00,000=100 lakh = 1 crore = 10 million

The company reported a 21.19 per cent jump in advertising revenues to Rs 2380.05 crore (53.83 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2014 as compared to the Rs 1963.87 crore (53.08 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2013.

ZEEL’s subscription revenue in FY-2014 at Rs 1802.22 crore (40.76 per cent of total income from operations) was 11.02 per cent more than the Rs 1623.38 crore (43.88 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2013. The company says that domestic subscription revenue in FY-2014 was Rs 1318.4 crore registering a growth of 13.2 per cent over the last fiscal and international subscription revenue at Rs 483.9 crore was 5.5 per cent more than the previous year.

ZEEL’s total operating income including other sales and services in FY-2014 at Rs 4421.70 crore was 19.52 per cent more than the Rs 3699.57 crore in FY-2013.

The company says that its sports channels recorded revenue of Rs 195.9 crore and incurred costs of Rs 160.8 crore in Q4-2014.

Let us look at the other FY-2014 and Q4-2014 numbers reported by ZEEL

However, quarter-on-quarter, its advertising revenue was (-14.90) per cent lower in Q4-2014 at Rs 582.36 crore (50.26 per cent of total income from operations) as compared to the Rs 684.31 crore (59.05 per cent of total income from operations) in the immediate trailing quarter and just 1.98 per cent more than the Rs 454.55 crore (49.70 per cent of total income from operations) in Q4-2013.

ZEEL reported a 1.54 per cent growth in subscription revenue in Q4-2014 at Rs 463.54 crore (40 per cent of total income from operations) as compared to the Rs 456.49 crore (38.41 per cent of total income from operations) in the immediate previous quarter Q3-2014, and 1.98 per cent more than the Rs 455.55 crore (47.14 per cent of total income from operations) in Q4-2013.  ZEEL says that domestic subscription revenue at Rs 334.4 crore and international subscription was Rs 129.2 crore in Q4-2014.

ZEEL’s total operating income including other sales and services in Q4-2014 at Rs 1158.81 crore was (-2.49) per cent lower than the Rs 1188.36 crore in Q3-2014 and 20.17 per cent more than the Rs 964.29 crore in Q4-2013.

The company reported 17.32 per cent rise in total expense to Rs 3267.54 crore (73.90 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2014 as compared to the Rs 2785.18 crore (75.28 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2013.

ZEEL’s total expense in Q4-2014 was (-4.93) per cent lower at Rs 866.15 crore (74.74 per cent of total income from operations) as compared to the Rs 911.10 crore (76.67 per cent of total income from operations) in Q3-2014 and 18.09 per cent more than the Rs 733.49 crore (76.07 per cent of total income from operations) in the year ago quarter Q4-2013.

A major expense head for ZEEL is operation cost. In FY-2014, ZEEL reported 18.89 per cent higher operation cost at Rs 2068.79 crore (46.79 per cent of total income from operations) than the Rs 1740.08 crore (47.04 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2013.

The company reported Rs 544.42 crore (46.98 per cent of total income from operations) as operation cost in Q4-2014 which was (-10.68) per cent lower than the Rs 609.50 crore (51.29 per cent of total income from operations) in Q3-2014 and 16.61 per cent more than the Rs 466.88 crore (48.42 per cent of total income from operations) in Q4-2013.

Other expense in FY-2014 at Rs 758.10 crore (17.14 per cent of total income from operations) was 15.55 per cent more than the Rs 656.10 crore (17.73 per cent of total income from operations) in FY-2013. Other expense at Rs 202.97 crore (17.52 per cent of total income from operations) in Q4-2014 was 5.57 per cent more than the Rs 192.27 crore in Q3-2014 (16.18 per cent of total income from operations) and 18.25 per cent more than the Rs 171.64 crore (17.80 per cent of total income from operations) in Q4-2013.

ZEEL reported a 25.70 per cent jump in depreciation and amortisation cost (DACC) in FY-2014 to Rs 50.13 crore as compared to the Rs 39.88 crore in FY-2013. DACC in Q4-2014 was higher by 40.46 per cent at Rs 18.92 crore in Q4-2014 as compared to the Rs 13.47 crore in Q3-2014 and 65.1 per cent more than the Rs 11.46 crore in Q4-2013.

ZEEL’s finance costs too were higher by 84.56 per cent in FY-2014 at Rs 15.78 crore in FY-2014 as compared to the Rs 8.55 crore in FY-2014. In Q4-2014, the company reported finance cost of Rs 7.02 crore which was more than double (2.2 times) the Rs 3.19 crore in Q4-2014 and 2.47 times the Rs 2.84 crore in Q4-2013.

ZEEL chairman Chandra said, “Indian economy continued to grow at a sluggish pace of less than 5 per cent in FY-2014. This has continued to put pressure on overall advertising spends which have barely touched the double digit mark. To some extent, election related spends have helped. The good part is that with a stable government, growth is expected to pick up. We expect that despite a slow economy, television media industry will continue its double digit growth.

“Fiscal 2014 was a landmark year for the television industry in many ways. On the one hand it marked the implementation of the 12 minute advertising cap by majority of the broadcasters. On the other hand, it saw the implementation of the second phase of digitization in 38 cities of the country. Also, it saw the change in television measurement metric from GRP to TVTs and the formation of a joint industry body for nationwide audience research, Broadcast Audience Research Council,” he added.