Zee Entertainment Q1 PAT up 16% to Rs 251 crore

The Board of Directors in its meeting held recently approved and took on record the unaudited consolidated financial results of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and its subsidiaries for the quarter ended June 30, 2017.

ZEEL reported consolidated revenue of Rs 15,403 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2018. Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) was Rs 4,844 million. PAT for the quarter was Rs 2,516 million. EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 31.4%.

Q1FY18 highlights:

• The acquisition of Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) which includes two channels – Big Magic and Big Ganga, has been completed. Its financial performance has been consolidated in the Company’s Q1FY18 results
• Advertising revenue for the quarter was Rs 9,665 million. Adjusted for the sale of sports business and consolidation of RBNL, domestic advertising revenue grew by 6.9% to Rs 8,688 million while international advertising revenue was Rs 578 million.
• Subscription revenue for the quarter was Rs 4,791 million. Adjusted for the sale of sports business, domestic subscription revenue grew by 14.5% to Rs 3,788 million while international subscription revenue stood at Rs 1,000 million.
• ZEEL’s total expenditure in Q1FY18 stood at Rs 10,559 million, lower by 5.6% compared to Q1FY17. The following table gives the break-down of costs.
• Total cost in Q1FY18 was lower on YoY basis due to 11% reduction in programming cost primarily due to absence of sports related programming costs. Additionally, savings in placement expense also led to a drop in the overall cost.
• Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter stood at Rs 4,844 million, registering a growth of 6.9% over Q1FY17. EBITDA margin stood at 31.4%.
• Profit After Tax (PAT) for the quarter grew by 16.0% over Q1FY17 to Rs 2,516 million. PAT margin was at 16.3%.

Subhash Chandra

Subhash Chandra, Chairman, ZEEL, commented, “Implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a big step towards formalisation of the Indian economy. This will help plug leakages in the system and the long-term benefits from this initiative will further drive the growth rate of the Indian economy. Strong economic growth and increasing share of formal sector bodes well for ad spends growth.”

Punit Goenka

Punit Goenka, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, ZEEL, commented, “It was yet another satisfying quarter with a strong financial and operating performance. During the quarter, we recovered from the impact of demonetisation and the growth in the first two months was strong. However, the momentum was disrupted in June in the run-up to GST implementation. The advertisers reduced ad spends on existing brands and launched fewer products as distribution chain was not fully prepared for seamless transition to the new regime. Despite the challenge, our domestic ad revenue grew by 7%. Notwithstanding the short-term impact, we believe that GST will aid the advertising spends in the long-run.”

“Our domestic subscription revenue, adjusted for the sale of sports business, grew by 14.5%. While there is still uncertainty regarding the implementation of the new tariff regulation due to pending litigations, we are confident of driving the subscription business on the back of the strong competitive positions of our channels in the key genres,” added Goenka.

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