Network18 Group reports 37% revenue growth in Q2 FY12

Consolidated revenues stood at Rs 534 crore as the television business continued to grow steadily and digital operations grew 72% YOY

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | November 2, 2012

The Network18 Group has announced its results for Q2 2012-13 ending September 30, 2012. Consolidated revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 534 crore on a reported basis, a growth of around 37 per cent over same quarter last year.

The TV18 business (both News and Entertainment) continued to grow steadily. Reported revenues for the television and motion pictures business stood at Rs 365.1 crore for the quarter. Reported profit for the quarter was Rs 14.2 crore.

The broadcasting and motion pictures operations turned in a healthy profit of Rs. 28.2 crore during the quarter excluding one- time expenses/revenues and losses towards new launches and discontinued operations.

Digital Content and eCommerce business grew to Rs 98.2 crore for the quarter, a 72 per cent growth over the same quarter last year.

Announcing the results, Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18, said, “At the very outset, I would like to thank and congratulate all our investors and stakeholders for helping us in successfully closing the twin rights issues at Network18 and TV18. The Network18 group is now entering a new phase in its journey with a formidable broadcast offering post the consummation of our proposed strategic stake acquisition in ETV, our new distribution venture Indiacast, and a strong portfolio of digital properties in addition to a recast balance sheet. We at Network18 are excited by the immense opportunity that lies ahead for us.”

B Saikumar, Group CEO, Network18, said, “Our broadcast business across news and entertainment has turned in a steady performance in spite of continued softness in the advertising environment. Notably, our distribution venture, IndiaCast, has had a very encouraging start and this positions us well as digitisation gets underway. The other highlights of the quarter were the continued growth in our digital content and commerce operations and the motion pictures business breaking into positive territory. Going forward, we are focused on maintaining strong operational performance in spite of risks on the advertising front.”

Effective July 1, 2012, IndiaCast is managing TV18's and Viacom18's distribution operations. All prior entities/teams involved with collecting subscription and/or paying carriage and placement have been subsumed as part of IndiaCast. It will be a 50:50 joint venture between TV18 and Viacom18. Pursuant to this development, broadcasting operations of TV18 will now report net revenues from distribution starting this quarter. Net revenues from distribution may be understood as subscription revenues earned by the company minus carriage/placement fees or any promotions/commission paid. This will have the impact of reducing reported revenues and expenses and hence will not be comparable to previous year audited numbers but will leave EBITDA unchanged.

Business News operations delivered a steady quarter. Q2FY13 revenues on a reported basis stood at Rs 51.9 crore. Operating profit stood at Rs 16.9 crore for the quarter. The group's Business News channels – CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz – continued to be market leaders during the quarter.

Revenues from General News operations stood at Rs 60.3 crore.

History TV18 continues to be a market leader with its innovative programming. Q2FY13 revenues stood at Rs 9.4 crore and the channel had a 21 per cent market share in the genre (Source: TAM, TG: CS SEC AB 15+, Market: 6 metros, Time Period: July-Sep'12, All days, 0600-2400 hrs).

In the Entertainment category, Colors turned in a steady performance in the Hindi GEC space against a highly competitive market environment. It continues to be the No. 2 channel during weekday prime time with its fiction programming. Weekend programming led by 'Jhalak Dhikla Jaa' for the quarter was very well received by audiences.

MTV with its multidimensional multiplatform strategy is the channel of choice for the youth. Nick, the kids' channel, and Sonic, the channel for the action loving generation, continue to engage with their target audiences. Comedy Central continues its market leadership.

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