Zee News Ltd profit declines in Q1 2013

However, ad revenues displayed growth of 6.2 per cent despite an inventory cut of the flagship channel

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | July 20, 2012

Zee News Limited (ZNL) has reported first quarter fiscal 2013 (ended on June 30, 2012) consolidated revenues of Rs 688.8 million. While the consolidated EBITDA stood at Rs 53.4 million, net profit before tax was Rs 40.1 million on an operating expenditure of Rs 635.5 million. The net profit in the same quarter of the previous fiscal was Rs 50.8 million.

Ad revenues displayed better growth than the news industry in general despite the inventory cut of the flagship channel with a 6.2 per cent growth at Rs 463.2 million against Rs 436.4 million in the same period during last year.

Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee News Ltd, said, “There is an overhang of inflation which is looming over the different sectors as well as the consuming class in India. While the perceived lack of action on reforms is being talked about, the India story is still perceived to be strong in the global arena. Always having a focus on current deliverables, our strategies are born out of a long term vision. This has enabled us to tide various troubled waters.”

He added, “A couple of aspects of business environment are expected to improve with slow but sure Cable Digitization. Our results are in line with our expectations in a scenario wherein growth is under pressure for a lot of sectors.”

Punit Goenka, Managing Director, ZNL, said, “To encash on cable digitisation, we have cut down inventory of our flagship channel Zee News by 30 per cent under the 'Maximum News, Minimum Breaks' initiative. While the company has shown revenue growth despite the inventory cut, the viewership increase should happen in due course of time. The delay in deadline of Phase 1 of cable digitisation is a speed bump in improving the business models of television news broadcasters. While the delay is certainly disappointing, our existing strength in subscription revenues should see us through this period of transition. Our new strategic initiatives plan is in place to leverage increased viewer choice as well as improved business model post cable digitisation.”

He added, “Meanwhile, we continue to ensure that the brand salience of the individual channels in News Network is maintained and strengthened through our various marketing activities.”

Barun Das, CEO, ZNL, said, “Zee News Ltd has always been prudent in news operations. While looking at the current economic environment, we have tightened our belts on our operational expenses; we have earmarked a separate set of investments towards strategic programming and marketing initiatives. With cable digitization being pushed back there are challenges in the future. But since government and other stakeholders are committed to cable digitisation, a company like us with focus on multiple revenue sources would stand to gain immensely in the long term.”

ZNL reaffirmed its leadership amongst the various news networks and was No. 1 in relative share in Top 6 metros for the network (source: TAM, Week 14-26, CS 15+, 6 Metros).

Although overall viewership position for Zee News, the flagship channel, has consolidated at No. 4 for the general news viewer at 12 per cent, the channel was No. 2 in terms of Time Spent Per Viewer for the premium viewer and retained its leadership in news content with 17.3 per cent news content share in Top 8 channel scenario (source: TAM, Week 14-26, News Bulletin, CS 15+ for general news viewer, CS 25+ AB, Top 8 Metros).

Zee Business, as per the Q1 13-week average, garnered a channel share of 25 per cent – a strong No. 2 position in the 6 channel business news genre (source: TAM, Week 14-26, TG: CS 15+, HSM).

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