BENGALURU: The Subhash Chandra led content and broadcast player Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) reported an improvement by about 10.5 per cent in consolidated Q3-2014 PAT at Rs.213.59 crores as compared to the Rs.193.3 crores for the corresponding period last year on the back of a 26.5 per cent jump in consolidated total income from operations at Rs.1188.36 crores for Q3-2014. The company had reported consolidated total income of Rs.938,82 crores for Q3-2013.
Consolidated PAT for the current quarter was however lower by 9.6 per cent than the Rs.236.27 crores the company had reported for immediate preceding quarter. Zeel had reported 8 per cent lower consolidated total income at Rs.1101.28 crores for Q2-2014 as compared to Q3-2014.
Zeel has two main revenue streams – advertising sales and subscription revenues, the third revenue stream - with sales and services contributing a small fraction to the overall revenue. All the three streams saw healthy y-o-y growth for Q3-2014.
Lower q-o-q consolidated Other Income, an increase in operating cost and other expenses were the chief reasons for the q-o-q consolidated PAT. Sports business revenue in Q3-2014 was Rs.191.5 crores against an expense of Rs.295.6 crores, hence wiping out Rs.104.1 crores from the profit figures reported by the company.
Let us look at the other Q3-2014 results reported by Zeel
Advertising revenue jumped 34 per cent to Rs 684.3 crore for Q3-2014 as compared to the Rs 509.4 crore for Q3-2013 and 17.3 per cent higher than the Rs 583.3 crore for Q2-2014.
Subscription revenue for Q3-2014 at Rs 456.5 crore was 11.4 per cent higher than the Rs 409.8 crore for Q3-2013, but 0.3 per cent lower than the Rs 458.1 crore for Q2-2014. Domestic subscription revenue at Rs 332.2 crore for Q3-2014 showed an increase of 12.2 per cent over the corresponding period of last year, but was 8.3 per cent lower than the Rs 335 crore for Q2-2014. International subscription revenue at Rs 124.3 crore for Q3-2014 was 9.4 per cent higher than the corresponding period of last year and 1 per cent higher than the Rs 123.1 crore for Q2-2014.
Other sales and services income at Rs 47.6 for Q3-2014 crore was more than double (2.416 times) the Rs 19.7 crore for Q3-2013, but 20.5 per cent lower than the Rs 59.9 crore for Q2-2014.
Zeel’s overall expense for Q3-2014 increased y-o-y by 32.5 per cent to Rs 897.6 crore from Rs 677.7 crore in Q3-2013 and 13.5 per cent higher than the Rs 790.8 crore for Q2-2014.
The company reported a sharp increase of 45.6 per cent in operating cost at Rs 609.5 crore as compared to the Rs 418.5 crore for Q3-2013 and 20.8 per cent higher than the Rs 504.1 crore for Q2-2014. The company attributes this higher operating cost to higher programming cost on account of big sporting events in the quarter.
Selling and other expenses for Q3-2014 also increased by 13.3 per cent to Rs 192.3 crore from Rs.169.7 crore in Q3-2013 and 4.8 per cent higher than the Rs 187.5 crore for Q2-2014.
Said Chandra, “While the overall economic environment stays challenging, Zeel continues to grow its business at a healthy pace. The network shares are on an uptrend, buoyed with the addition of new channels in the network. Our investments in sports channels continued during the quarter. We also look to expand our portfolio to take advantage of growth opportunities ahead of us.”
Zeel managing director and CEO Punit Goenka said, “The two new launches &pictures and Zee Anmol have made handsome gains and added to the network strength. Operating margins were lower due to higher losses in sports business due to a heavy event calendar. Rupee depreciation earlier this year also had a negative impact on sports business performance. We are hopeful of an improved sports performance in the years ahead.”
