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FY-2015: Sterling Holiday Resorts Sales Promo spend up 4.1%
BENGALURU: Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited (Sterling Holidays) reported Sales Promotion spend (Sales Promo) in FY-2015 (year ended 31 March, 2015) at Rs 17.16 crore (10.2 per cent of net sales), which was 4.1 per cent more than the Rs 16.48 crore (12.5 per cent of nets sales) in the previous year. Sales Promo spends in Q4-2015 (quarter ended 31 March, 2015) at Rs 5.71 crore (13.6 per cent of net sales) was more than double (2.6 times) the Rs 2.19 crore (eight per cent of net sales) in Q4-2014 and 26.9 per cent more than the Rs 4.5 crore (9.8 per cent of net sales) in the immediate trailing quarter.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
Please refer to Fig 1 below. During the 13 quarter period starting Q4-2012 until the current quarter, sales promo spends show a linear increasing trend in terms of absolute rupees as is indicated by the broken maroon trend line. However, in terms of percentage of net sales, the linear trend is reducing, as demonstrated by the broken green trend line. The company’s highest sales promo spends in terms of absolute rupees , whilas in the current quarter in terms of percentage of net sales was it in Q2-2013 at 21.7 per cent (Rs 5.10 crore) of net sales.
Sterling Holidays net sales in FY-2015 at Rs 168.05 crore was 27.4 per cent more than the Rs 131.89 crore in FY-2014. The company’s net sales in Q4-2015 at Rs 42.1 crore was 13.4 per cent more than the Rs 37.11 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter, but was 7.8 per cent lower than the Rs 45.67 crore in Q3-2015. The company’s net sales show a linear increasing trend during the period under consideration as indicated by the black broken trend line.
Until the current financial year, Sterling Holidays has in general been a loss making company. Please refer to Fig 2 above. However, for FY-2015, the company has reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 0.52 crore (0.3 per cent of net sales) as compared to a loss of Rs 21.29 crore in the previous year. For Q4-2015, the company has reported PAT of Rs 2.35 crore (5.6 per cent of net sales) as compared to a loss of Rs 5.78 crore in Q4-2014 and a PAT of Rs 0.82 crore (1.8 per cent of nets sales) in Q3-2015.
Sterling Holidays managing director Ramesh Ramanathan said, “FY-2015 performance speaks for itself. As should the year-on-year improved performance metrics over the last 3 to 4 years. We have begun FY-2016 with a strong, confident note by opening four new resorts in one go at Corbett, Daman, Shirdi and Dindi. Sterling is now in a position to offer varying holiday experiences – from hillside to riverside to spiritual beach and wildlife in 24 resorts across India.”
With effect from 3 September, 2014, Sterling Holidays has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomas Cook Insurances Services (India) Limited – (TCISL). As at 31 December, 2015, Thomas Cook (India) Limited through its subsidiaries hold 55.07 per cent of the equity shareholding of the company.
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Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI: Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
