MAM
Airtel Cellular continues as largest TV advertiser in week 46
BENGALURU: Airtel Phone Services (Airtel Cellular) has been the largest advertiser on television for 4 weeks in row, starting from BARC week 43 (22 October 2016 to 28 October 2016) until BARC week 46 (12 November 2016 to 18 November 2016).
The brand had 9,229; 9,370; 10,387 and 9,444 spots or television ad insertions in BARC weeks 43; 44; 45 and 46 respectively, the highest during all the four weeks.
It may be noted that BARC weeks 43,44 and 45 could be termed as festival or Diwali weeks for India in 2016, the period during and after which Airtel Cellular continues to top the charts. In weeks 41 (8 October 2016 to 14 October 2016) and 42, (15 October 2016 to 21 October 2016) food and confectionary brand Cadbury had topped the charts and stood at second place in week 40 (1 October 2016 to 7 October 2016). Dettol had stood at the numero uno position in week 40.
While Auto, jewellery and food brands have been conspicuous by their absence from the top ten brands list in terms of TV ad spots since week 45, the central government made an appearance at ninth (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) and tenth (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation) places in list in week 46. Please refer to Figure A below for data on the list of top 10 brands in terms of television ads (top 10list).
As indicated in the figure above, FMCG brands continue to rule the top ten list in week 46 with five brands and 51.80 percent of the sum of the insertions by the top 10 brands. FMCG was followed by two mobile services brands Airtel Cellular and Vodafone Flex (22.94 percent of the sum of the insertions by the top 10 brands. The Central government with two ministries among the top 10 list and with 16.38 percent of the sum of the insertions by the top 10 brands was next with the sole Online entry – Amazon.in with 6,536 insertions and 8.89 percent of the sum of the ad spots by the top 10 brands.
Brands
Jio Financial Services posts Rs 1,560 crore FY26 profit
Revenue rises to Rs 3,513 crore as investments and lending scale up.
MUMBAI: If money makes the world go round, Jio Financial Services Limited is quietly spinning a much bigger wheel. The Reliance-backed financial arm reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,560.9 crore for FY26, slightly lower than Rs 1,612.6 crore in FY25, even as revenue growth gathered pace.
Total revenue from operations rose sharply to Rs 3,513.3 crore in FY26 from Rs 2,042.9 crore a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in interest income, which more than doubled to Rs 1,901.9 crore from Rs 852.5 crore. Fee and commission income also saw a significant jump to Rs 597 crore, compared to Rs 155.2 crore in FY25, reflecting expanding financial services activity.
For the March quarter, profit stood at Rs 272.2 crore, broadly flat compared to Rs 269 crore in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue from operations climbed to Rs 1,018.5 crore, up from Rs 493.2 crore year-on-year, signalling steady momentum in core income streams.
Expenses, however, moved in tandem with growth. Total costs nearly quadrupled to Rs 1,982.9 crore in FY26 from Rs 524.8 crore in FY25, with finance costs alone rising to Rs 745.1 crore from just Rs 7.7 crore a year earlier, reflecting increased borrowing and scale of operations. Employee expenses also grew to Rs 387.3 crore, while other expenses expanded to Rs 755 crore.
Profit before tax stood at Rs 1,911.7 crore for the year, slightly below Rs 1,946.9 crore in FY25. After accounting for a total tax outgo of Rs 350.8 crore, the company reported its final net profit figure.
Beyond the income statement, the balance sheet tells a story of rapid expansion. Total assets surged to Rs 1,63,497 crore as of March 31, 2026, up from Rs 1,33,510 crore a year earlier. Investments alone stood at Rs 1,33,088.7 crore, underscoring the company’s strong focus on treasury and financial asset growth.
However, the year also saw sharp volatility in other comprehensive income, which swung to a loss of Rs 16,028.3 crore, largely driven by fair value changes in equity instruments. This dragged total comprehensive income for FY26 to a negative Rs 15,756.1 crore, compared to a positive Rs 14,870 crore in FY25.
On the capital front, the company’s paid-up equity share capital remained steady at Rs 6,353.1 crore, with other equity rising to Rs 1,27,500.5 crore.
The numbers reflect a business in transition scaling rapidly across lending, investments and fee-based services, but also navigating the volatility that comes with mark-to-market movements in financial assets. In other words, while the top line is accelerating, the fine print still carries a few swings.
