MUMBAI: Rajesh Jejurikar looked liked a senior executive who could not settle down in the media world. For a man who spent nine years at Marico and over eight years at Mahindra & Mahindra, the innings at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) as president was awfully short. Ten months and no media interviews and he rejoins automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra.

Jejurikar had joined Zeel in February this year, getting into a broader role that meant introducing processes and supporting Punit Goenka as the entertainment major was on an expansion drive.

His role involved managing all the key verticals at Zeel, except programming. With his exit now on 31 December, all vertical and department heads of the company will now report into the MD & CEO, Goenka.

Meanwhile, Zee Group has made a high-profile recruitment. Bhaskar Das, who was president at Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd, joined last month as Group CEO with responsibility over digital and news business. Industry outsiders are speculating on him taking an even larger role but Zee has not said anything yet.

Commenting on Jejurikar?s decision to quit, Goenka said, "In a short stint at Zee, Rajesh has brought in newer business perspectives and has contributed to the process immensely, bringing in positive business impact to the organisation. The entire Zee family wishes him all the success in his new endeavours."

Jejurikar added, "The time spent at Zee was extremely fruitful. I am thankful to Zee and Punit for giving me an opportunity to explore and broaden my experience in the media & entertainment space. Zee has all the fundamentals required to become a global media enterprise. As I part ways, and move back to the manufacturing sector, I wish Zee all the success."
 
Jejurikar will join Mahindra as chief executive- Tractor and Farm Mechanisation, with effect from 1 April. In his previous stint at Mahindra, he was chief executive- Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra. He will replace Bishwambhar Mishra, who has moved into a new role at the Mahindra Group, taking over as Director- Mahindra Institute of Quality with effect from 1 April.

Jejurikar will be a member of the Mahindra & Mahindra Group Executive Board (GEB) and will be responsible for the tractor businesses of both the Mahindra and Swaraj brands. In addition, his responsibilities will include MGTL, Applitrac, Construction Equipment businesses and Asset Management (Capital Purchase) for AFS.

Previously Jejurikar was appointed chief executive of the Automotive Division after the formation of AFS in 2010, having joined the organisation as VP - Marketing in the Auto Sector in the year 2000.

MUMBAI: Zeel-owned sports broadcast network Taj Television has renewed its partnership with IMG Reliance for the 18th edition of the Chennai Open as the exclusive official broadcast partner.

Chennai Open, India?s only ATP World Tour stop, will be televised on Taj TV-owned Ten Sports in India. The sports broadcaster will provide comprehensive coverage of the event from 31 December through to 6 January.

Said Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande on the association, ?Tennis has a huge fan following across the region and our association with the Chennai Open will give a fantastic opportunity to millions of tennis fans to experience thrilling tennis action from the comfort of their homes.?

Ten Sports has been a long-standing broadcast partner of Chennai Open.

MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra-owned Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) reported a 17.2 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended 30 September helped by a strong growth in revenues. Its net profit on a standalone basis for the second quarter, however, was down 42 per cent on a sharp rise in expenses.

Zeel‘s consolidated net profit in the second quarter was Rs 1.87 billion compared with Rs 1.59 billion a year earlier as its operating revenues rose 33.8 per cent to Rs 9.53 billion compared with Rs 7.12 billion a year earlier.

The company‘s net profit on a standalone basis in the second quarter was Rs 679 million, down from Rs 1.18 billion a year earlier as rise in expenses far outstripped growth in operating revenues. Its standalone operating revenues during the quarter was up 22 per cent at Rs 6.36 billion from a year earlier against a 47 per cent rise in standalone expenses year-on-year at Rs 5.40 billion.

The company‘s standalone businesses include entertainment and sports business in India.

CONDENSED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

ZEEL‘s revenues from sports business more than doubled to Rs 1.81 billion in the second quarter from Rs 881 million a year earlier. Its revenues from businesses other than sports which include a bouquet of entertainment channels was up 23 per cent at Rs 7.72 billion in the second quarter compared with Rs 6.24 billion a year earlier.

The company‘s consolidated advertising revenues at Rs 5.28 billion were 33.7 per cent higher than a year earlier contributed significantly by sports business, while subscription revenues rose 35.7 per cent to Rs 3.95 billion from a year earlier. Domestic subscription revenues stood at Rs 2.81, while international subscription revenues were Rs 1.14 billion.

Zeel said its consolidated operating profit for the second quarter was Rs 2.17 billion, 7.8 per cent higher than a year earlier. Its operating profit margin for the quarter was 22.8 per cent.

Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra said. "This (second) quarter the company has continued to build on the momentum set in the first quarter. We look forward to continuing our investment in the television media space and take advantage of the growth opportunities ahead of us."

The company expects television advertising spends to turnaround after having been impacted this year by the economic slowdown.

"We are confident of continued double digit growth of television advertising spends over the next few years. At ZEE, we have created a good portfolio of assets and will continue to make prudent investments with a clear focus on returns over the long term," said Zeel managing director and CEO Punit Goenka.

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) is stepping up its localisation drive in the Middle East. The Subhash Chandra-promoted company is planning to invest $100 million in Zee Alwan, its second Arabic channel in the Middle East.

Zee Aflam, Zeel?s first Arabic channel, has already turned operationally profitable. The dedicated movie channel beaming Bollywood films dubbed in Arabic, will complement Zee Alwan in tapping the growing $2 billion television advertising market in the Middle East.

Zee also plans to launch three channels for the Middle East market over the next five years as part of its global expansion strategy to leverage the growing popularity of Bollywood and Indian television content among Arab audiences.

Zee Alwan will have over 180 hours of original programming monthly with three Arabic series offered on the free-to-air channel. The programme roster also includes popular Indian serials that have been dubbed in Arabic, in addition to lifestyle shows including cookery, yoga, and travel.

Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka said, ?As a part of our global strategy, Zee Alwan is a step towards strengthening our presence in the Middle East. After the success of Zee Aflam, this new channel will help us to further consolidate our share and enhance Zee?s reach.?

Zee Alwan will air shows like Hindustani (Saudi Arabian musical and comedy show), Banat Al Alilah, and Banaat Al Jameaa. The Indian serials that have been dubbed in Arabic for Zee Alwan include Malekat Jhansi, Alwa?ad and Lalli. The lifestyle shows that will be aired on the channel are Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor?s Konooz Khanaa, Yoga for You and Full Circle.

?Zee Alwan has received overwhelming response from Arab audiences across the Gulf region, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia following its soft launch. With the grand roll-out, we are further strengthening the programming of Zee Alwan, with a focus on providing original Arabic content. Zee Alwan?s niche of providing exclusive Arabic series ? produced in the Gulf region as well as the dubbed Indian productions ? sets a new trend in family television entertainment in the Middle East,? said Zeel CEO?Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan Mukund Cairae.

The channel, transmitted from Dubai, with an operational office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, can be accessed through frequency 12417 on Nilesat and 12111 on Arabsat.

MUMBAI: Beating the economic slowdown and market expectations, Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has posted a 21 per cent jump in net profit for the fiscal-first quarter on the back of a strong ad growth and cut in sports losses.

Operating revenue also rose 21 per cent to Rs 8.43 billion for the quarter ended 30 June 2012. Advertising revenue surprised market forecasts, jumping 18 per cent to Rs 4.47 billion, as the company?s flagship channel, Zee TV, gained market share and viewership.

Zeel reported consolidated net profit of Rs 1.57 billion for the quarter, up from Rs 1.30 billion.

Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra said, ?It is encouraging to see that Zeel has recorded a strong improvement in the operating and the financial performance during the quarter. This has been on the back of increased investments that we are undertaking to grow the business and the market share."

Zeel operating revenue also jumped 21 per cent during the quarter to Rs 8.43 billion (from Rs 6.98 billion), while expenses grew by 12 per cent.

Consolidated operating profit (Ebitda) for the quarter zoomed 50 per cent to Rs 2.33 billion, from Rs 1.56 billion in the year-ago period. Ebitda margins for the quarter stood at Rs 27.7 per cent.

Said Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka, ?Zee has started the year on a good note with improvement in the operating performance in Q1 FY?13. During the quarter, we have been able to improve operating margins, partly due to higher viewership share and partly due to lower sports losses.?

Zeel? ad revenue growth came primarily due to increase in market share of many of its channels. The advertising climate, though, stays sluggish.

Subscription revenue rose 19 per cent to Rs 3.64 billion. However, on a QoQ basis, it fell 9.45 per cent (Rs 4.02 billion in Q4). Domestic subscription revenue for the fiscal-first quarter stood at Rs 2.50 billion showing 20.7 per cent growth, while international subscription revenue was at Rs 1.14 billion (up 16.5 per cent Y-o-Y).

On the expenses front, programming and operating cost for the quarter saw a 10 per cent rise to Rs 3.76 billion, from Rs 3.42 billion a year ago. Employee cost rose 19 per cent over the earlier year. Selling & other expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 1.45 billion, increasing by 16 per cent. Total costs incurred by the company rose 12 per cent to Rs 6.1 billion.

Sports business:

The sports business revenue stood at Rs 992 million in the quarter, while cost incurred was Rs 1.20 billion.

Zeel share price jumped 2.64 per cent to close Friday at Rs 149.85 on the BSE.