BENGALURU: This is the third consecutive quarter that direct to home (DTH) company Dish TV has reported growth across important financial and operational parameters including operating revenues (TIO), profit after tax (PAT) and subscription numbers.

Last fiscal and quarter (year and quarter ended 31 March, 2015, Q4-2015), the Subhash Chandra led Essel Group’s DTH operator Dish TV Limited turned the corner with a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.14 crore and Rs 34.94 crore (margin 4.8 per cent) respectively. The company followed this up with even better numbers in the previous quarter (Q1-2015). Dish TV was the first among listed DTH companies in the country in FY-2015 and Q4-2015 to report PAT as opposed to the operating profits reported by a segment of the other Goliaths for whom DTH services is just another small segment.

Note:

(1)100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

(2) With effect from April 1, 2015, Dish TV says that it has started netting-off certain collection fees paid to its trade partners from its topline. This has resulted in the company’s topline getting shrunk by around four per cent, with a similar number being decreased from the middle line. The values for the prior comparative periods have also been recast to reflect the same.

(3) Dish TV recently transferred its non-core business (including set-top boxes, dish antenna and related services) to its wholly owned subsidiary Dish Infra Services Private Limited (formerly known as Xingmedia Distribution Private Limited) on 1 April, 2015 on a going concern basis.

For the current quarter ended 30 September, 2015 (Q2-2015), Dish TV has reported Operating revenue of Rs 752.42 crore, hence registering a 15.8 per cent YoY growth as compared to Q2-2015’s number of Rs 649.90 crore and a 2.1 per cent QoQ growth as compared to Rs 736.68 crore.

The company reported PAT of Rs 86.96 crore (11.6 per cent margin) for the current quarter as compared to a loss of Rs 14.2 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and a whopping 60.4 per cent growth in profit as compared to the Rs 54.21 crore (7.4 per cent margin) in the previous quarter.

The company’s subscriber base in Q2-2016 increased by 3.38 lakh to touch 137 lakh as compared to the 133 lakh reported at the end of the previous quarter (Q1-2016).

Dish TV reported a YoY growth in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) to Rs  171 as compared to the Rs 166, but a QoQ decline from Rs 173 in the previous quarter.

Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra said, “Dish TV further reinforced its leadership position during the quarter. The company, while being at the forefront of the DTH industry in India, reached out to television viewers with innovative products that promise to enhance their television viewing experience. Dish TV’s improving financial strength coupled with its passion to be ahead of the curve, should be an advantage to further enhance its presence in the vast and still untapped analogue and free-to-air television markets in the country.”

Let’s look at the other numbers reported by Dish TV

Dish TV’s total expenditure in Q2-2016 at Rs 630.44 crore (83.8 per cent of TIO) declined 1.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 639.90 crore (98.5 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and declined 4.4 per cent as compared to the Rs 659.69 crore (89.5 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

A major expense head is content cost comprising programming, content and other costs. In Q2-2016 content cost at Rs 203.54 crore (27.1 per cent of TIO) was 17.1 per cent more than the Rs25.27 crore (29.7 per cent of TIO), but was 14.7 per cent lower than the Rs 212.01 crore (28.8 per cent of TIO) in the previous quarter.

Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in Q2-2016 at Rs 29.58 crore (3.9 per cent of TIO) increased 17.1 per cent as compared to the Rs 25.27 crore (3.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015, but declined 14.7 per cent as compared to the 34.67 crore (4.7 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

Dish TV’s selling and distribution expense in Q2-2016 declined 26.1 per cent to Rs 68.09 crore (nine per cent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 92.09 crore (14.2 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter, but was 2.6 per cent more than the Rs 66.34 crore (nine per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “Dish TV continued to actively contribute to the ‘Digital India’ movement by digitising analog TV homes in DAS phase 3 & 4 markets. A unique product mix and a strong brand recall enabled us to add a healthy 338 thousand net subscribers in a seasonally weak quarter. Our regional offering ‘Zing’ is now available across eight states and continues to be in high demand in its target markets.”

Goel added, “Sticking to our guiding principle of growth with profitability, we enhanced operational efficiencies in the business and are pleased with an all-time high EBITDA margin of 33.9 per cent recorded during the quarter. We were positive at the net level as well and had a free cash flow of Rs. 84.9 crore. As we move ahead, we stay convinced about our pole position being related to our value for money offering and intend to constantly work on it for long term sustainable growth.”