ENIL records 15.8% growth in Q2 FY16 net profit at Rs 26.97 cr

EBITDA growth up 13.6 per cent at Rs 35.7 crore, while revenues increased by 14.48 per cent to Rs 101.56 crore on a quarter-on-quarter basis

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 28, 2015

Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL), a subsidiary of Times Infotainment Media which operates a plethora of FM radio stations under the Radio Mirchi brand name, posted a net profit after tax and minority interest of Rs 26.97 crore in Q2 FY16, up by 15.8 per cent from the corresponding quarter last fiscal, where the figure stood at Rs 23.30 crore.

ENIL reported EBITDA growth of 13.6 per cent at Rs 35.7 crore.

The net operating income from sales in Q2 FY16 stood at Rs 116.27 crore, a growth of 11.65 per cent from the corresponding quarter last fiscal, where it had reported Rs 104.14 crore.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the revenues increased by 14.48 per cent as ENIL posted net revenue of Rs 101.56 crore in Q2 FY16.

Profit after tax and minority interest for the half year ended September 30, 2015 stood at Rs 52.85 crore, up by 10.91 per cent from H1 FY15, where the figure stood at Rs 47.65 crore.

The revenues for H1 FY16 were recorded at Rs 217.83 crore as against Rs 197.25 crore for the same period in the previous fiscal.

Commenting on the quarterly results, Prashant Panday, MD & CEO, ENIL, said, “We are extremely happy with our results. Despite a sluggish economy, we have grown our revenues and profits substantially. With the Phase 3 auctions over, we are gearing up to launch brand Mirchi into exciting new towns like Kochi and Chandigarh, as well as launch our second brand of radio in most of the major markets of the country. Radio is going to boom in the next five years, and Mirchi will surely be at the forefront.”

As is known, during Q2 FY16, ENIL's participation in the 1st batch of FM Phase 3 auctions had resulted in a substantial expansion of footprints into seven new towns – Chandigarh, Kochi, Kozhikode, Jammu, Srinagar, Guwahati and Shillong. This, in turn, is expected to bolster its strength further with a deeper network presence during the coming months.

In addition, the company had received the permission from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) to acquire four stations from TV Today Network – Amritsar, Patiala, Shimla and Jodhpur – which will be rebranded and relaunched shortly as Mirchi, adding to its North India network strength. The company had acquired the four radio stations for Rs 4 crore. ENIL completed the acquisition on September 19, 2015. It has also paid the migration fees for these four stations in order to migrate from Phase II to Phase III. With these 11 stations, the core Mirchi brand will be available in 43 cities (currently 32 cities).

ENIL had also applied to acquire three Phase 1 stations (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata) of TV Today Network, which was denied by the MIB. The company has appealed against this decision and the matter will come up for hearing on January 20, 2016.

The company has exercised the option to migrate 35 out of the 36 stations (including four stations from TV Today Network) from Phase 2 to Phase 3. The gross migration fee for this was Rs 365.59 crore, while the net migration fee after taking into account the residual value of the Phase 2 licenses was Rs 340.82 crore.

In the recently concluded FM Phase 3 auctions, ENIL had won 17 new licenses. In Phase 3 biddings, the company focused its efforts on building a strong second frequency network in the biggest A+ and A category towns. ENIL has won second frequencies in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur and Surat. Meanwhile, ENIL has also acquired a third frequency in Hyderabad. This makes ENIL the only company to have three frequencies in any city.

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