Network18 Q2 ad revenues surpass pre-COVID levels by 35%

Network18 Media & Investments Ltd on Tuesday reported a nearly threefold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 199.27 crore for September quarter of the fiscal year 2021-22 driven by improved revenue performance, controlled opex and lower finance costs. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 68.01 crore in July-September period a year ago, the media firm said in a regulatory filing.

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Revenue from operations was up 30.76% to Rs 1,387.24 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 1,060.89 crore in the year-ago period.

According to Network18, its both news and entertainment businesses further improved protability.

During the quarter it had a "strong revenue growth driven by viewership" and the "highest ever Q2 revenue (ex-film), grew 29% YoY," said Network18 in a post earning statement.

Ad revenues during the quarter grew 48.4% YoY managing to surpass pre-COVID levels i.e. Q2 FY20 by 35%.

TV news advertising also witnessed strong growth versus FY20.

In terms of revenue, TV news segment grew 18.5% YoY, achieving 115% of pre-COVID levels, led by resilient ad revenue performance.

Entertainment and infotainment channels segment witnessed a sharp surge in revenues witnessing a growth of 32.7% YoY, achieving 116% of pre-COVID levels.

Subscription revenues were up 1.4% YoY at Rs 450 crore, achieving 98% of pre-COVID levels.

Digital news also saw growth in the second quarter. The segment saw 55% growth as operating revenues in the second quarter of FY22 stood at Rs 74 crore versus Rs 48 crore in Q2 FY21.

Commenting on the results, Network18 Chairman Adil Zainulbhai said the quarter was quite remarkable, both from a macro as well as the company's point of view.

Over the outlook, Zainulbhai said, it is looking quite promising from a medium-term perspective and this is a good news for all the consumer-facing businesses.

"Our digital assets, both news and entertainment, got a lift during the pandemic and we continue to invest to leverage those gains. With expansion into sports genre, we have taken a signicant step towards scaling up our entertainment portfolio to the next level," he said.

This will also help establish the company as an integrated media company across broadcast, OTT and content studio business spanning general entertainment, news, movies and sports, Zainulbhai added.

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