News Broadcasting
BBC to outsource financial services to India based Xansa
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC is outsourcing some of its accounting and financing services to India in a move aimed at saving 20 million pounds a year for the next decade. The BBC has selected Xansa as the preferred supplier for the BBC’s outsourced finance and accounting services. The new contract will run for a period of ten years.
It is the result of the re-tendering of services that were successfully outsourced to Medas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EDS, in 1997. Xansa will work closely with the BBC to deliver finance and accounting services across the BBC, including purchasing and sales transaction processing, artist and contributor payments, financial management and project accounting, payroll processing and expenses and customer support.
The ten-year contract will cost the BBC approximately £8.5 million per annum, and will generate savings for the BBC in the region of £20 million per annum. This will be a major contribution to the BBC’s target of releasing £355 million of savings to invest in programmes and services.
The BBC is currently conducting a simplification of its business processes as part of its Future Finance programme, which is delivering further savings of £17 million.
Xansa will provide their services from a blend of locations in the UK and India. All voice contact (Customer Support) with Xansa will remain in the UK; other services, including transaction processing, will be carried out at Xansa’s location in Chennai, India.
In this way the BBC is taking advantage of the significant savings of globalisation while maintaining the benefits of more local customer support. The original outsourcing of these services to Medas in 1997 was seen at the time as being a ground-breaking deal which included a successful implementation of a common systems platform (SAP) across the BBC.
Medas also successfully transformed the BBC’s transaction processing operation, delivering a fit-for-purpose and efficient service to the BBC. Xansa was selected from a shortlist of four companies (Capita, EDS, Infosys BPO and Xansa) after a rigorous evaluation process against a number of criteria which included value for money, cultural alignment with the BBC, service delivery capability; the ability to drive improvements to the BBC’s business and financial processes, and transition and exit planning.
Xansa will act as prime contractor working with Siemens Business Services.
BBC group finance director Zarin Patel said, “I congratulate Xansa on winning this major contract. The BBC will benefit from Xansa’s proven expertise in managing outsourced Finance and Accounting Services, and we look forward to developing a close relationship with them. I believe this is an excellent deal for the BBC, and I am confident that Xansa will help us further to transform our finance and business processes.
“By moving our transaction processing to India we are demonstrating that we are prepared to take bold and imaginative decisions that offer the licence-fee payer great value for money, while still maintaining the highest quality of service delivery. I would like to thank our colleagues in Medas for their valuable support over the last nine years: in that time they have helped us transform the BBC’s finance and accounting processes, delivered a sound SAP implementation, managed our transaction processing, expenses and business systems and left us with a fit and stable operation to build on in the future.”
Xansa CEO Alistair Cox said, “We are delighted that Xansa has been selected as preferred partner to deliver Finance and Accounting Services across the BBC. Our expert technology and back office services allows our clients to do more with their own business and we are confident that we will, as the UK leader in F&A services, enable the BBC to minimise its administrative costs and to free up funds to invest in its own core business of creative programming.
“We are particularly pleased to be the BBC’s first offshore BPO partner, and this week’s award win as offshore operator of the year is another terrific endorsement of our leading offshore position and capability.”
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.
