ZEE ad revenues in Q4 2014 up 21.5% at Rs 5,824 mn

Company reports EBITDA of Rs 3,116 mn, up 28.6% yoy; PAT of Rs 2,162 mn, up 19.9% yoy; Board recommends equity dividend of 200%

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | May 22, 2014

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) yesterday reported fourth quarter fiscal 2014 consolidated revenue of Rs 11,588 million. The consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) for the quarter stood at Rs 3,116 million, recording a growth of 28.6% over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. PAT for the quarter was Rs 2,162 million. The EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 26.9% and the PAT margin was 18.7%.

Advertising revenues for the quarter were Rs 5,824 million, recording a growth of 21.5% over Q4 FY13. For the full year FY2014, advertising revenues increased by 21.2% to Rs 23,801 million

The Board of Directors has taken on record the audited consolidated financial results of ZEE and its subsidiaries for the year ended March 31, 2014.

For the full year FY2014, consolidated operating revenues of the company were Rs 44,217 million, while consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) for the year was Rs 12,043 million, recording a growth of 26.2%. PAT for the year stood at Rs 8,900 million.

Subhash Chandra

Subhash Chandra, Chairman, ZEE, stated, “Indian economy continued to grow at a sluggish pace of less than 5% in FY14. 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 on its double-digit growth path.”

“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 also saw the implementation of second phase of digitisation in 38 cities. Also, it saw the change in television measurement metric from GRPs to TVTs and the formation of a joint industry body for nationwide audience research, Broadcast Audience Research Council,” Chandra continued.

Chandra said about ZEE's financial performance, “Our performance during the quarter reflects the investments that ZEE is making to grow its business and market share. We stand by our commitment to viewers of delivering high quality content across genres. Despite the slowdown in overall spends, ZEE continues to grow its business at a healthy pace through a combination of good planning and focused execution. The network shares are on an uptrend, buoyed with the addition of new channels in the network. We will continue to pursue growth opportunities, which would enhance long term shareholder value. In today's meeting, the Board has recommended a cash dividend of Rs 2 per share.”

Punit Goenka

Punit Goenka, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ZEE, commented, “Fiscal 2014 has been a good year both on operating as well as financial parameters. Consolidated revenues increased 19.5% to Rs 44.2 billion driven by strong growth in advertising, domestic subscription and syndication revenues. ZEE gained viewership share with improvements across genres, both in national and regional languages, which led to a 21.2% growth in advertising revenues, a strong outperformance relative to the industry. We have recorded EBITDA margin expansion from 25.8% to 27.2% despite our investments in new businesses.”

About the latest channel launch from ZEE's stable, Goenka said, “With the launch of Hindi channel 'Zindagi' on June 23, 2014, we believe that ZEE will create a category of Premium Mass in the GEC category in India offering alternative fiction content. The content of the channel echoes our brand philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'. It will offer handpicked stories suitable for Indian sensibilities. It will start with content from Pakistan, written by award winning writers and we will be sourcing content from Turkey, Egypt and Latin America. The channel is being marketed and distributed aggressively and will be the first ever national channel launch of a Hindi channel. We are also looking at expanding the offering to international markets.”

Speaking about the outlook for the business, Goenka said, “The rollout of digitisation, even though with some delays, is a positive development for the industry and will provide new growth opportunities. Digitisation will lead to fragmentation of audiences. At ZEE, we believe this presents a huge opportunity to create new products for specific segments. Barring the short-term impact of reduction in inventory, advertising spends on television are expected to grow in healthy double digits over next many years. Rollout of BARC ratings system is expected to give it a positive fillip. We continue to make investments in creating excellent quality content for our viewers. We also continue to explore growth opportunities in domestic markets, international markets and in digital space.”

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