ZEEL reports 14% growth in Q4'17 EBITDA

The Board of Directors in a recently meeting held has approved and taken on record the audited consolidated financial results of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and its subsidiaries for the quarter and year that ended on March 31, 2017. ZEEL reported a consolidated revenue of Rs 15,280 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) was at Rs 4,687 million.

Advertising revenue for the quarter was Rs 8,469 million. Domestic advertising revenue grew by 8.1 per cent to Rs 7,944 million while international advertising revenue stood at Rs 525 million.

Subscription revenue for the quarter was at Rs 5,580 million, a decline of 6.1 per cent y-o-y, due to high base on account of catch-up revenues in Q4FY16. Domestic subscription revenue stood at Rs 4,554 million while international subscription revenue stood at Rs 1,026 million.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter stood at Rs 4,687 million, registering a growth of 14 per cent over Q4FY16. EBITDA margin stood at 30.7 per cent.

The first phase of sale of sports business to Sony Pictures Network has been completed and USD 330 million has been received. The company has adopted IND-AS for reporting financial performance from Q1FY17. Financial statements for corresponding previous period (Q4FY2016, FY2016) have been restated accordingly.

Advertising revenue for FY17 was Rs 36,735 million, recording a growth of 9.2 per cent over FY16. Subscription revenue for FY17 was Rs 22,629 million, growth of 10.0 per cent over FY16. Domestic subscription revenue grew by 11.2 per cent to Rs 18,226 million.

On a comparable basis, adjusted for sale of sports, the domestic subscription growth was 13.5 per cent. International subscription revenue grew by 3 per cent to Rs 4,403 million.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) for FY17 stood at Rs 19,269 million registering a growth of 27.3 per cent over FY16. EBITDA margin stood at 29.9 per cent.

PAT for the quarter was Rs 15,142 million which includes exceptional gain of Rs 12,234 million on account of sale of sports business. EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 30.7 per cent.

Dr Subhash Chandra

Dr Subhash Chandra, Chairman, ZEEL, said, “The Indian economy has exhibited strong resilience with GDP growth of 7 per cent in Q3FY17 despite demonetisation of high value currency. Implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) would unify India into one market. This along with other reforms and push on infrastructure would accelerate growth from already healthy levels. A normal monsoon as forecasted by IMD could give a fillip to rural consumption.”

Punit Goenka

Punit Goenka, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ZEEL, said, “We are happy to deliver yet another quarter of strong financial performance despite the difficult economic environment. Our domestic advertising revenue grew by 8.1 per cent despite the impact of demonetisation. After a couple of quarters of weakness, advertising growth appears to be back on track. The GST roll-out could boost advertising spends as a part of potential tax savings might be reinvested. While there is uncertainty regarding the implementation of the new tariff regulation due to pending litigations, we have published the prices of our channels and bouquets. We are confident that with the strong competitive position of our channels in every genre, we will be able to drive subscription business. We have completed the first phase of sale of sports business during the quarter. While this had an impact on revenues, our focus is to strengthen national and regional channel portfolio, along with growing new businesses. We are exploring ways to extinguish preference share liability using the proceeds from the sale of sports business.”

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