iWorld
Apalya appoints Deepa Kulshrestha & Bharat Prem as VPs
MUMBAI: Apalya Technologies, a video delivery company, has announced the appointment of Deepa Gupta Kulshrestha as vice president and head of sales and Bharat Prem as vice president of global sales.
Kulshreshtha will lead the business development efforts and set strategic direction for sales while Prem will drive global sales of its OTT platform myplex in the telco/ broadcast/ pay TV sections of the media spectrum.
Apalya CEO Vamshi Reddy said, “I am delighted to welcome Deepa and Bharat to Apalya. Both are highly effective, accomplished leaders with proven track records of growing a business into a global leading brand. Their end-to-end understanding of the media ecosystem and adaptive approach towards new businesses will help catalyse our goals of accelerated growth.”
Prior to joining Apalya, Deepa worked with Ericsson where she headed the media vertical & media delivery and also set up the Partner Program. Her 24 years of experience encompasses various roles such as sales lead in Redback, head of sales operations for SAARC in UTStarcom and project manager in Nokia.
In a career spanning 22 years in media and broadcast, Bharat has led various global sales functions. Bharat has worked in the media & broadcast industry with the likes of France Telecom (GlobeCast) & Ericsson in the last 14 years. Prior to this, he was working in the IT & e-commerce space with the likes of Wipro & Commerce One (US).
Global online TV episode and movie revenues for 138 countries is expected to touch $83 billion in 2022, more than double the $37 recorded billion in 2016. The global OTT TV & video forecasts report estimates that $9 billion will be added in 2017 alone.
Gaming
Bluestone FY26 revenue rises to Rs 2,436 crore, turns profitable
Q4 profit at Rs 31 crore, full-year profit at Rs 13 crore vs loss last year.
MUMBAI: From sparkle to numbers, Bluestone seems to be polishing more than just jewellery this year. Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Limited reported a sharp turnaround in FY26, with revenue from operations rising to Rs 2,436 crore (Rs 24,364 million), up from Rs 1,770 crore (Rs 17,700 million) in FY25. The company posted a full-year profit of Rs 13 crore (Rs 131.79 million), a significant recovery from a loss of Rs 222 crore (Rs 2,218 million) a year ago.
Total income for the year stood at Rs 2,486 crore (Rs 24,860 million), compared to Rs 1,830 crore (Rs 18,300 million) in the previous year, reflecting both topline growth and improved operational momentum.
The March quarter, however, told a more nuanced story. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 681 crore (Rs 6,814 million), down from Rs 748 crore (Rs 7,486 million) in the year-ago period, though higher than Rs 461 crore (Rs 4,613 million) in the preceding December quarter. Net profit for Q4 stood at Rs 31 crore (Rs 311.81 million), compared to Rs 68 crore (Rs 688 million) a year earlier, but a clear reversal from a loss of Rs 51 crore (Rs 512 million) in Q3.
Margins were shaped by higher input costs, with raw material consumption rising to Rs 2,204 crore (Rs 22,043 million) for the full year, alongside employee benefit expenses of Rs 282 crore (Rs 2,824 million) and finance costs of Rs 210 crore (Rs 2,104 million). Other expenses came in at Rs 371 crore (Rs 3,715 million), slightly lower than Rs 393 crore (Rs 3,938 million) in FY25.
On the balance sheet front, total assets expanded to Rs 4,961 crore (Rs 49,610 million) as of March 31, 2026, from Rs 3,532 crore (Rs 35,322 million) a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in inventories to Rs 2,672 crore (Rs 26,718 million). Equity also strengthened to Rs 1,803 crore (Rs 18,030 million), nearly doubling from Rs 911 crore (Rs 9,107 million).
Cash flows reflected the cost of growth. Net cash used in operating activities stood at Rs 199 crore (Rs 1,990 million), while investing activities saw an outflow of Rs 239 crore (Rs 2,392 million). Financing activities, however, generated Rs 497 crore (Rs 4,971 million), helping the company end the year with cash and cash equivalents of Rs 108 crore (Rs 1,075 million), up from Rs 49 crore (Rs 487 million).
Earnings per share for FY26 came in at Rs 1.10, a sharp improvement from a negative Rs 79.74 in FY25, underlining the shift from losses to profitability.
With revenue scaling up, costs still glittering on the higher side, and profitability finally back in the black, BlueStone’s FY26 performance suggests a business mid-transition less about shine alone, and more about sustaining it.
