Cable TV
Hathway board clears GTPL IPO
MUMBAI: Even as naysayers have been saying investor sentiment is pretty negative about the cable TV distribution sector in India, here is a company which is looking to swim against the tide. Cable TV and broadband internet services provider Hathway Cable & Datcom’s board today gave it the thumbs up to make an initial public offering for its subsidiary outfit GTPL Hathway.
GTPL Hathway offers cable TV and broadband services in many cities in India among which figure Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.
The board gave approval to the IPO proposal which seeks to raise funds for GTPL through a fresh issue of equity shares while giving an option to existing GTPL shareholders to sell their holdings. Hathway holds around nine million shares in GTPL, according to a filing wih the Bombay stock exchange on Wednesday.
The Hathway board also gave a go-ahead to the proposal to set up a committee to work on the various aspects of the proposed IPO including regulatory and shareholder approvals. Of course, all these proposals would be subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
Hathway has 23 headends in 160 cities nationwide and its cable TV service subscriber base as on 31 March 2016 was 12.3 million with 10.6 million of them having migrated to digital cable TV. It had a broadband susbscriber base of 627,000 even as it passed 3.3 million homes. 2.4 million of the cable TV subscribers were in phase I areas; 4.2 million in phase II, while its phase III and IV universe was at 4.1 million.
MUMBAI: When margins wobble, liquidity talks and in Q3 FY25-26, cash did most of the talking. Den Networks Limited closed the December quarter with consolidated revenue of Rs.251 crore, marginally higher than the previous quarter but down 4 per cent year-on-year, even as profitability stayed resilient on the back of strong cash reserves and disciplined cost control.
Subscription income softened to Rs.98 crore, slipping 3 per cent sequentially and 14 per cent from last year, while placement and marketing income offered some cheer, rising 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs.148 crore. Total costs climbed faster than revenue, up 7 per cent QoQ to Rs.238 crore, driven largely by higher content costs and operating expenses. As a result, EBITDA dropped sharply to Rs.13 crore from Rs.19 crore in Q2 and Rs.28 crore a year ago, pulling margins down to 5 per cent.
Yet, the bottom line refused to blink. Profit after tax stood at Rs.40 crore, up 15 per cent sequentially and only marginally lower than last year’s Rs.42 crore. A healthy Rs.57 crore in other income helped cushion operating pressure, keeping profit before tax at Rs.48 crore, broadly stable quarter-on-quarter despite the tougher cost environment.
The real headline-grabber, however, sits on the balance sheet. The company remains debt-free, with cash and cash equivalents swelling to Rs.3,279 crore as of December 31, 2025. Net worth rose to Rs.3,748 crore, while online collections accounted for 97 per cent of total receipts, underscoring strong cash discipline across operations, including subsidiaries.
In short, while Q3 showed signs of operating strain, the financial backbone remains solid. With zero gross debt, steady profits and a formidable cash war chest, the company enters the next quarter with flexibility firmly on its side proving that in uncertain markets, balance sheet strength can be the best growth strategy.
