Radio Mirchi rev up 10% in tough quarter

MUMBAI: In a tough quarter, India‘s leading FM radio company, ENIL, has reported a 9.91 per cent rise in revenue while controlling costs that helped the net profit to jump.

Entertainment Network (India) Ltd (ENIL), which runs private FM radio brand Radio Mirchi, has posted a net profit of Rs 97 million for the three-months ended 30 June 2011, up from Rs 43 million in the earlier year.

ENIL ED and CEO Prashant Panday said, "It‘s been a surprisingly tough quarter for media companies. The current political environment, the high inflation and the resultant high interest rates and the squeeze in the advertising budgets due to last quarter‘s cricket season have together put the brakes on the media industry‘s growth. We hope these conditions will change shortly. Fortunately for us, our focus on cost management has helped us report a strong profit growth. Our cash generation during the quarter has also been very satisfying at Rs 230 million."

Revenue during the quarter under review rose to Rs 632 million, compared with Rs 575 million in the earlier year.

The company‘s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) stood at Rs 218 million, up 46 per cent. The Ebitda margin improved to 34 per cent from 26 per cent in the year-ago period.

ENIL has Rs 1.25 billion of free cash. "We are in a good position to take advantage of the opportunities available to us under the Phase-III policy that the government has just announced," Panday said.