Punit Goenka has approached the Board of Directors of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) with a proposal to focus entirely on his operational responsibilities as the Chief Executive Officer of the company and relinquish his position as Managing Director.
With this step, he intends to dedicate his time entirely to the future of the company by enhancing its performance and profitability in line with the direction provided by the Board and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee in its meeting on 15th November 2024.
Goenka’s approach stems from his enhanced focus towards the core business segments and the concerted efforts required to drive robust growth for the future in the interest of all its stakeholders.
In line with the action-oriented steps implemented as part of his growth plan for the Company, Goenka formed a new, lateral team structure. During this phase, he has been investing significant time and energy to enhance the value delivery from the respective businesses by conducting a structured set of visits in all language markets in order to further sharpen the Company’s abilities and understanding of its consumers and their evolving preferences.
He is also working closely with the digital business teams to achieve a balanced cost structure for ZEE5 to drive sustained growth for the future. Additionally, his focus has also been to enhance the value proposition to advertisers by identifying newer monetization avenues in order to boost the advertising revenue ecosystem for the Company and sector at large.
Further to the steps taken and in order to achieve the enhanced revenue, EBITDA and net profit targets set by the Board on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, Goenka has expressed his desire to dedicate his efforts entirely towards the Company’s future aspirations in order to ensure optimal utilization of his time.
In his new approach, Goenka aims to further enhance his presence in key operational markets to further tap into the pulse of the consumers and advertisers.
Speaking about this approach, Punit Goenka said, “The Company remains on a firm footing and is taking all the necessary steps to build a robust foundation for its future. In order to ensure we maintain a sharp focus on achieving our targeted aspirations, the core businesses require dedicated time and energy which can only be achieved in an operational capacity.
“In the long-term interest of the Company and all its stakeholders, I have approached the Board with a request to attain operational focus as the Chief Executive Officer. I am grateful to the Board for recognizing my efforts and supporting me in this approach,” added.
Supporting the step taken by Goenka, R. Gopalan, Chairman, ZEE, stated, “The Board appreciates the approach taken by Mr. Punit Goenka to sharpen his focus towards enhancing the operational aspects of the Company as the Chief Executive Officer.
“His expertise and business acumen remain unmatched, and we remain confident in his abilities to deliver immense value to the Company and all its stakeholders in the position he assumes. On behalf of the Board, I wish him immense luck and success going forward,” Gopalan said.
The Board will continue to review the performance of the Company on a periodic basis, to help the Company achieve the targeted goals and build a sustained growth momentum.
The Board remains confident in Goenka’s abilities to drive a higher growth trajectory for the Company and achieve the enhanced targets in an operational capacity and hence has specified higher performance metrics for his 40% variable pay. If he achieves his targets more than 100%, he may get a higher variable pay, subject to a cap.
The Board has also reinforced its belief in the newly formed leadership team and, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, today elevated Mukund Galgali to the role of Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
Galgali will assume this role in addition to his profile as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company and will continue to report to the CEO, Punit Goenka.
The appointment is effective immediately. The Board also advised the management to appoint a Deputy Chief Financial Officer to further strengthen the management team. Further, the Board is continuing the review of the Company’s HR policies, processes, and salary structures which were changed during the merger integration process.
