MUMBAI: Stung by a foreign exchange loss of Rs 304 million, Dish TV has widened its second-quarter net loss to Rs 486 million.

Dish TV‘s net loss has been shrinking for the last six quarters and stood at Rs 183 million for the quarter ended June, holding promise that it was inching towards a net profit situation.

Said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel, "In line with our expectations, Dish TV moved closer to attaining bottom line profitability but for the loss due to foreign exchange fluctuation."
 
The subscriber acquisition cost has climbed to Rs 2,232, up from Rs 2,058 in the trailing quarter.

Dish TV added 575,000 subscribers in the quarter, achieving a total of 11.7 million gross and 9.2 million net subscribers. The company has added 1.3 million subscribers in the first six months of the fiscal, marginally lagging behind its target of three million new customers in FY‘12.

Total revenue grew 4.78 per cent to Rs 4.82 billion. Subscription revenue accounted for Rs 4.12 billion.

Dish TV‘s ARPU (average revenue per user) has increased to Rs 152 (from Rs 150 in Q1 FY12), while the HD ARPU stood at Rs 454.
 
Dish TV has kept the expenses under control during the quarter, which stood at Rs 3.60 billion as against Rs 3.48 billion in the preceding quarter.

Ebitda rose to Rs 1.22 billion, from Rs 1.12 billion in the preceding quarter.

Said Goel, "Subscription revenue recorded sustained sequential increase while Ebitda maintained its upward trend registering an increase of 8.6 per cent compared to the immediately preceding quarter. Key operating metrics continued to be favourable, with ARPU registering encouraging improvement in a seasonally weak quarter. ARPU for HD subscribers was at a level of Rs 454, pointing to a window of opportunity to scale up overall ARPU‘s going forward."