News Broadcasting
Anil Ambani Group plans to list 4 companies by Q1 2006
MUMBAI: Anil Ambani is listing four of his companies including the telecom venture formed via a spin off of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on the stock exchange by the first quarter of 2006.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group will attempt to list Reliance Communications Ventures, Reliance Energy Ventures, Reliance Capital Ventures and Global Fuel Management Services at the earliest.
Reliance Communications Ventures is the telecom arm of the ADA Group holding Reliance Infocomm and the GSM business. Ambani has ambitious plans of rolling out IPTV and has also applied for a licence to operate direct-to-home (DTH) business.
As part of his entertainment plans, he acquired Adlabs Films which is into film processing and multiplex business. Adlabs is also looking at foraying into the private FM radio sector.
The ADA group will seek an approval from the capital market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to list shares in the four companies without making an initial public offering (IPO), it said in a release.
Under the terms of an agreement approved by RIL’s board in August 2005 and sanctioned by the Bombay High Court earlier this month, RIL shareholders will get free shares in the four companies. The release adds that only those investors, who buy shares in RIL on or before 17 January, would be entitled to free shares in the four companies.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
