BENGALURU: The Ektaa Kapoor-led Balaji Telefilms Ltd reported a consolidated profit from continuing operations of Rs 7.1 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Q2 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to a loss of Rs 22 crore for Q2 2018 and a loss of Rs 0.6 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. The company reported 13 percent higher quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) television content production hours or (commissioned programs segment) and a 17 percent improvement in realisation per hour for the period under review as compared to the immediate trailing quarter Q1 2019. The company produced 193 hours of commissioned television content in Q2 2019 as compared to 170.5 hours in Q1 2019. The company had produced 240 hours of commissioned television content in Q1 2018.
Balaji Telefilms said that realisation per hour of commissioned television content during the quarter under review was almost Rs 0.4 crore as compared to about Rs 0.34 crore in Q1 2019 and Rs 0.32 crore in Q2 2018.
Segment numbers
The company has three segments – commissioned programs, films and digital.
Revenue from the commissioned programs segment increased 7.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 88.41 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 82.31 crore in Q2 2018 and 26.3 percent q-o-q from Rs 70.01 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. Operating profit from the commissioned programs segment was Rs 13.25 crore in Q2 2019 as compared to Rs 10.53 crore in Q2 2018 and an operating loss of Rs 2.10 crore in Q1 2019.
Revenue from Balaji Telefilms' films segment in Q2 2019 reduced 17 percent y-o-y to Rs 25.33 crore from Rs 30.76 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and reduced 62.5 percent q-o-q from Rs 68.04 crore in Q1 2019. Operating profit from the films segment was Rs 1.03 crore in Q2 2019 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 6.02 crore in Q2 2018 and an operating profit of Rs 9.56 crore in Q1 2019. The company had released one film in Q1 2019 and hence the increased numbers.
Balaji Telefilms' OTT platform ALTBalaji or digital segment reported more than ten-fold increase in revenue at Rs 14.28 crore as compared to Rs 1.23 crore in Q2 2018 and Rs 5.78 crore in Q1 2019. The segment’s operating loss reduced to Rs 11.16 crore during the period under review as compared to an operating loss of Rs 20.29 crore in Q2 2018 and an operating loss of Rs 16.28 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
Balaji Telefilms' consolidated revenue from operations in Q1 2019 increased 8.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 119.07 crore as compared to Rs 109.78 crore in Q2 2018, but reduced 3.5 percent q-o-q from Rs 123.44 crore in Q1 2019. Consolidated total revenue in Q2 2019 increased 9.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 128.02 crore from Rs 116.57 crore, but reduced marginally by 0.7 percent q-o-q from Rs 128.86 crore. Consolidated loss in Q2 2019 was slightly higher at Rs 15.44 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 13.84 crore, but was far lower than the Rs 27.03 crore in Q1 2019.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by Balaji Telefilms
Balaji Telefilms reported 13.8 percent y-o-y increase in total expenditure in Q2 2019 at Rs 142.48 crore from Rs 125.19 crore in Q2 2018. Cost of production/ acquisition and telecast fees increased 1.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 98.57 crore from Rs 97.11 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal but was 13.6 percent lower q-o-q than the Rs 114.09 crore in Q1 2019. Employee benefits expense in Q2 2019 increased 55.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 13.08 crore from Rs 8.42 crore in Q2 2018 and increased 45 percent q-o-q from Rs 9.02 crore in Q1 2019.
Other expenses reduced 11.2 percent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 12.74 crore from Rs 13.76 crore in Q2 2018 and reduced 7.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 13.76 crore in Q1 2019. Marketing and distribution expense in Q2 2019 increased 43.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 11.16 crore from Rs 7.76 crore in Q2 2018, but reduced 13.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 12.88 crore in Q1 2019.
