Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), one of India’s leading media and entertainment companies, on Tuesday reported a 62.6% year-on-year increase in its net profit for the April-June quarter at Rs 530.6 crore.
Essel Group is in advanced stages of the stake sale process of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. MD and CEO Punit Goenka told DNA that it has already received one binding offer and is expected to receive another offer in the next few days.
Total revenues during the reporting quarter rose 13.3% year on year to Rs 2,008.1 crore on the back of a strong performance of domestic broadcast and digital businesses.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) grew 16.6% to Rs 659.8 crore while Ebitda margin stood at 32.9%.
Punit Goenka said the company has delivered another quarter of strong performance despite the operational challenges faced by the industry due to the implementation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) tariff order.
“We have witnessed a strong uptake of our channels across markets, which is reflected in the 47% growth of our domestic subscription revenues. It validates our standing as the number one entertainment network of the country, built on the foundation of strong position in each of the markets we operate in. We are confident that the new tariff regime is going to be beneficial for all the stakeholders and will greatly improve the consumer experience,” he said.
“Domestic advertising growth is considerably lower than the growth in past quarters. This is primarily on account of the decision to convert our two leading free-to-air (FTA) channels to pay, which significantly impacted the ad growth for the quarter. Additionally, the implementation of the new tariff order in the previous quarter negatively impacted reach and viewership of most entertainment channels, leading to a temporary shift in some of the ad spends from entertainment to sports,” Goenka said.
“We believe that the underlying demand for advertising still remains strong and we are confident that spends would come back as the tariff order settles down and the festive season kicks in,” Goenka said.
Subscription revenue at Rs 708.8 crore for the June quarter increased by 36.7% over the same period last fiscal. While domestic subscription revenue grew by 46.7% on year to Rs 624 crore international subscription revenue stood at Rs 84.8 crore.
ZEE5, the fastest growing over-the-top (OTT) platform in the country, continued its strong run and is working towards becoming India’s number one digital entertainment platform. In June 2019, ZEE5 had 76.4 million monthly active users globally and the platform had a global daily active user base of 6.6 million. ZEE5 users spent an average of 33 minutes per day on the platform.
“In the international markets, it has seen an encouraging response in the initial phase. I am confident that with its strong content line-up and partnerships with leading players in the digital eco-system, value proposition of the platform and engagement with the consumers will continue to improve,” Goenka said.