Dish TV becomes free cash flow positive in Q4

Operating revenues stood at Rs 5,247 million, recording 21.2 growth. Average EBITDA margin for FY12 ENDS 9 per cent higher than fiscal 2011

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | May 17, 2012

Dish TV India has reported fourth quarter fiscal 2012 (ending March 31, 2012) audited revenues of Rs 5,247 million, recording 21.2 per cent growth over the corresponding period last fiscal. The EBITDA at Rs 1,442 million showed a significant 59.9 per cent increase over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 27.5 per cent.

The full year fiscal 2012 standalone revenues stood at Rs 19,578 million, with an EBITDA of Rs 4,984 million and EBITDA margin of 25.5 per cent. Foreign exchange loss of Rs 510 million impacted fiscal 2012 net loss of Rs 1,588 million.

Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Dish TV India, said, “Mandatory digitisation sets the stage for cleaning up and consolidation in the television industry at a time when inefficiencies have negligible scope in businesses and in economies. It enhances subscription opportunities for the DTH industry. What is more important though is digitisation's ability to trigger a much needed change in the overall ecosystem of the television distribution space, where key metrics like churn and ARPU will no longer be susceptible to the ills of analog cable. Dish TV remains well-positioned to leverage this catalyst for growth.”

Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV, said, “TRAI's recent tariff order is an indication of the regulator's intent to go full throttle on the digitisation mandate. Though the potential digital customer is still in a state of inertia, expecting last-minute deferments, demand for digital boxes is expected to pick up speed closer to the sunset date.”

“Dish TV is all set for the Phase I opportunity and beyond and endeavours to retain its market share in an expanding digital universe. We believe that with its top of the mind recall and efficient ground infrastructure, Dish TV is likely to be one of the preferred choices of the potential digital consumer,” Goel added.

Commenting on the overall performance, Goel said, “While managing a trade-off between quality and quantity of new subscribers in the fiscal gone by, the DTH category witnessed a slowdown after a price hike at the entry level. The category added 10.5 million subscribers in fiscal 2012 compared to 13.3 million in the year before that. However, Dish TV witnessed a marked improvement in its key metrics after the price hike was initiated. With quality subscribers coming on board thereafter, Dish TV's monthly churn number in the fourth quarter aligned with its internal benchmark.”

“In a bid to clear ambiguity around the revenue recognition of lease rentals, we have revised our accounting policy. Lease rental revenues would henceforth be recognized over a five year period and would be in line with depreciation of fixed assets,” said Goel.

Dish TV continues to invest in new technologies and content. The company recently launched 'Dish truHD+', an HD box capable of digital recording. 'Dish truHD+' lends a huge advantage over other DVRs in the market by offering unlimited recording capacity due to its compatibility with any external USB device, which enables consumers to simply plug and play and build an entire library of their favourite programmes.

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