BAG Films? FY?12 rev crosses Rs 1 bn, E24 breaks even

MUMBAI: The fiscal ended 31 March 2012 has been good for BAG Films and Media, the company that owns and operates Hindi news channel News24 and Bollywood channel E24 apart from FM radio brand Dhamaal24 and TV production business.

E24 has achieved operational break even for the first time, posting a cash profit of Rs 13 million.

Also, for the first time the company?s turnover has crossed the Rs 1 billion mark on a consolidated basis. Revenue grew 55 per cent to Rs 1.17 billion, from Rs 751.93 million in FY?11.

Bag Films is expecting News24 to be cash positive by the end of this fiscal.

?E24 has broken even for the fiscal with a cash profit of Rs 13 million. We expect News24 to also break even this fiscal. The bottom line of the company?s TV broadcasting business is in losses because of distribution expenses,? a senior executive of the company said.

Total income from the TV business stood at Rs 700.91 million, compared to Rs 510.12 million in the previous fiscal. Loss stood at Rs 65.52 million, down from Rs 91.41 million in the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, the radio business of the company continued to be profitable. Dhamaal24 reported a cash profit of Rs 39.4 million, while revenue stood at Rs 113.1 million.

On a consolidated basis, BAG Films? net loss stood at Rs 69.79 million, compared to a net loss of Rs 265.93 million in the previous fiscal.

Compared to a 55.11 per cent jump in the revenue, expenses during the fiscal also rose 24 per cent to Rs 1.44 billion (from Rs 1.16 billion in FY?11).

The audio visual production business posted segment reported a profit of Rs 95.35 million, compared to a loss of Rs 33.40 million in the previous fiscal. Revenue during the fiscal stood at Rs 362.25 million, from Rs 134.34 million a year ago.