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.

MUMBAI: The television broadcasting business of BAG Films and Media has reported operating loss of Rs 45.92 million for the three-month period ended 31 December compared to operating profit of Rs 0.24 million a year ago.

This is despite a 34.77 per cent jump in revenue from this segment over the earlier year.

BAG Films and Media, which owns and operates Hindi news channel News24 and Bollywood channel E24, reported revenue of Rs 212.17 million from the quarter ended 31 December, as against Rs 157.44 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

However, the radio business housed under Dhamaal24, once again suffered losses, as its income from the segment dropped. The segment loss stood at Rs 4.34 million compared to a profit of Rs 34.19 million a year ago.

Revenue from the segment stood at Rs 14.37 million, down from Rs 53 million.

BAG Films‘ consolidated net loss stood at Rs 89.2 million for the quarter under review, up from Rs 38.44 million it reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company saw a 27.41 per cent increase in revenue for the quarter at Rs 274.66 million, as against Rs 215.57 million in the year-ago period. Expenses, though, surged 47.10 per cent to Rs 405.23 million compared to Rs 275.47 million in Q3 of FY‘11, led by cost of production.

Operating loss (before other income, interest & exceptional items) stood at Rs 130.57 million, compared to Rs 59.90 million a year ago.

The audio visual production segment, Studio 24, posted an operational loss of Rs 5.29 million, as against a loss of Rs 10.80 million. Revenue stood at Rs 46.54 million, up from Rs 5.13 million.