News Broadcasting
Moolah to fund traditional movie fare unlikely
MUMBAI: Money and movies. That was Frame’s agenda post lunch. Seminar held- Funds and Projects – had a killer combination, but the matter churned out has been a well-documented fare.
While the traditional method of funding the cinema is unable to cope up with the demands, the corporate and the financial institutes have thus far met with a little luck. Looking at its ever-growing pie the industry is now looking at the greener pastures abroad. While it isn’t a taboo, but the financial sources are a little wary. Their demands: transparency and great raw material.
While the first speaker Rabo International, media and entertainment head Alexander Gelderman opined that the while the avenues abroad are opening up, it isn’t so for the traditional fare. The song-dance-romance movies churned out by the industry showcase India’s culture and tradition and they should be a main stay. Trying to draw out the parallel between his language Dutch and India’s Hindi, he said that both the industry need to preserve the culture and therefore stick to the crossovers as strictly experimental fare and not otherwise.
While the second speaker, UK film Council International, International department director Clare Wise had quite a few wise anecdotes to share. She spoke how hard it is as a producer to make and hunt finance for films. Like Gelderman, she was also wary of the typical Hindi movie fare’s performance outside India unless it is for the NRI market. But she tried to emphasize that legal constraints need to be taken into consideration and even India’s market needs to look carefully at its legal procedures and the effort should be made to encourage the film industry within the country.
Last speaker for the session, Peacefulfish CEO Thierry Baujard offered that need of the time is to look at multiple co-production deals. It isn’t such a bad idea to look at the markets abroad, in Europe, UK, but Indian film industry need to look at the their own product very carefully.
Despite the seminar discussing the possibilities of financing from sources abroad, what turned out to be the final word was the need to get self-reliant.
Like the host Ambit Corporate Finance Pvt Ltd, managing director Ashok Wadhwa put it the need of the hour is that the producers and the artiste take responsibility of their product. Looking at the dismal performance of the industry, what the corporate and the financial institutes need to have is passion for films apart from the business sense.
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.
