Cable TV
Jagdish Kumar Pillai quits Hathway; Rajan Gupta appointed as MD
MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited has accepted the resignation of MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai.
Pillai is moving on from the company w.e.f today, 25 November. He took over as the MD & CEO of Hathway in December 2012, and led the company’s growth through the digitisation phase establishing its position as one of the leading digital cable TV and broadband service providers in the country.
Hathway announced Rajan Gupta to be its new managing director.
Prior to the appointment, Gupta was serving as president of the Hathway Broadband business since 2014, leading the company’s aggressive foray into high-speed cable broadband services in the country. With a broadband subscriber base of close to 0.8 million and services reaching more than 3.7 million homes, Gupta is credited with establishing & building a profitable broadband business for Hathway, setting it way-ahead of other competing players. With most MSOs in the country expanding their business and entering the cable broadband space, Hathway has been a step ahead in offering cutting-edge broadband services under Rajan’s leadership with continued investments in high-speed technology such as Docsis 3.0 and GPON FTTH, providing 50 MBPS speed plans, constant upgradations in customer service and increasing market share.
Over 18 years of experience, he has handled various business leadership roles with Tata Teleservice, Hindustan Coca Cola and Asian Paints.
In his new role Gupta would be to build on Hathway’s leadership in broadband and video business and take Hathway to the next phase of strategic transformation of creating a profitable consumer centric organization by maximizing innovation, execution and collaboration.
In another major move, T.S. Panesar, current president of Hathways’ video business, has been elevated to the position of chief executive officer-video business.
Having joined the company in December 2014, Panesar is an industry veteran with two decades of leadership experience in the consumer durables and TV broadcasting industry having worked with leading brands like ESPN Star Sports, Star TV. Having multi-functional experience, Panesar waspart of the core management team that was instrumental in setting up the ESPN Star Sports brand in India and building its DTH business.He has been credited with bringing a transformational shift in the cable TV operations of the company, making it more transparent, systematic & process driven. Under Panesar’s leadership, Hathway has aggressively grown in DAS 3 markets having crossed 11 million digital subscribers and launched many breakthrough initiatives such as “Hathway Connect”, the state-of-the-art, innovative portal for LCOs that has been widely appreciated by the industry& LCO fraternity for increasing their revenue and reducing operational costs. In addition, he has also led the launch of new in-house channels, rebranding & repositioning the current stable to create a robust portfolio as well as leading the companys’ foray into Value Added Services (VAS) offering a premium customer experience.
Says Jagdish: I have been contemplating this for sometime. Finally, Viren (Raheja) agreed to my decision. I am taking time off just chilling with my family for the next few months before making my next move. I have enjoyed my stint at Hathway.
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.
