DTH
Q1-17: Airtel DTH revenue up 22.2 percent
BENGALURU: DAS phase III has been a boost for the carriage industry in subscriber additions, revenues, and operating profits. Buoyed by the government’s decision to stick to deadlines for digitisation, the DTH industry in India is continuing its bloom run, if one were to go by the results reported by Bharti Airtel Limited about its Digital TV services (Airtel DTH) for the quarter and year ended 30 March 2016 (Q1-17, current quarter.
Revenue from Airtel’s DTH segment in Q1-17 increased 22.2 per cent to Rs 836.9 crore as compared to Rs 684.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Airtel’s DTH segment reported EBIT (Earnings before interest and tax) of Rs 121.9 crore (14.6 per cent operating margin) as compared to EBIT of Rs 41.5 crore (6.1 percent operating margin) in Q1-16..
Subscription numbers
Airtel DTH added 4.24 lakh net subscribers in Q1-17 to bring its subscriber base to 121.9 lakh rom 117.25 lakh in the previous quarter. Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to Rs 233 from Rs 229 in the immediate trailing quarter. Airtel DTH reported a monthly subscriber churn of 0.8 percent in Q1-17, same as the churn in Q1-16 and Q4-16.
Capex
Airtel increased capex for its DTH segment for Q1-17 by Rs 203 crore as compared to the Rs 211.3 during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The company’s cumulative investments into Airtel DTH increased 19.1 per cent to Rs 6,693.6 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 5,621.6 crore in Q1-16.
Bharti Airtel Limited numbers
Airtel DTH contributes just about 4 per cent to Bharti Airtel’s Limited. Bharti Airtel reported total revenue of Rs 25,546.5 crore in Q1-17, 7.9 per cent more than the Rs 23.671 crore in Q1-16..
After accounting for exceptional items (net gains of Rs 82 crore), the consolidated net income for the current quarter stands at Rs 1,462 crore compared to Rs 2,113 crore in corresponding quarter of last year. Q1-16 net Income of Rs 2,113 crore has been re-instated to Ind-AS from previously reported IFRS figures which includes an exceptional gain of Rs 556 crore on account of this reinstatement.
Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.
DTH
GTPL Hathway posts FY26 revenue growth, Q4 slips into loss
Annual profit at Rs 5.88 crore; Q4 loss at Rs 5.90 crore
MUMBAI: A strong year met a shaky finish as GTPL Hathway closed FY26 on a high note only to stumble at the final hurdle. The company’s latest financials reveal a tale of two timelines: steady annual growth alongside a fourth-quarter dip that nudged it into the red. GTPL Hathway Limited reported total income of Rs 2,472.46 crore for the year ended March 31, 2026, marking a clear rise from Rs 2,223.00 crore in FY25. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,450.78 crore, up from Rs 2,193.38 crore a year ago, signalling consistent traction in its core cable TV and broadband business.
Yet, beneath the annual growth narrative, the March quarter told a different story. The company posted a net loss of Rs 5.90 crore in Q4 FY26, a sharp reversal from a profit of Rs 0.91 crore in the preceding quarter and Rs 8.15 crore in the same period last year. Total income for the quarter came in at Rs 618.46 crore, largely flat sequentially but higher than Rs 569.33 crore reported a year earlier.
The pressure was visible across the cost structure. Total expenses for the quarter rose to Rs 620.64 crore, marginally exceeding income and tipping the company into a loss before tax of Rs 7.87 crore. This compares with a profit before tax of Rs 1.22 crore in the December quarter and Rs 11.32 crore in Q4 FY25.
For the full year, however, profitability held firm. GTPL reported a net profit of Rs 5.88 crore in FY26, significantly lower than Rs 47.80 crore in FY25, but still in positive territory despite higher finance costs and operating expenses. Operating expenses alone climbed to Rs 1,884.53 crore for the year, up from Rs 1,603.53 crore, reflecting the increasing cost of running and scaling network infrastructure.
Finance costs also rose notably to Rs 33.57 crore in FY26 from Rs 22.19 crore in FY25, while depreciation and amortisation expenses stood at Rs 189.19 crore, underlining continued investments in assets and technology. Employee benefit expenses, however, declined to Rs 63.42 crore from Rs 77.08 crore, offering some relief on the cost front.
An exceptional item of Rs 5.69 crore during the year also weighed on profitability, compared with Rs 3.79 crore in the previous year. Meanwhile, tax adjustments, including deferred tax movements and prior-year adjustments, played a role in shaping the final earnings outcome.
Despite the quarterly wobble, the broader picture suggests a company still expanding its top line while grappling with margin pressures. With paid-up equity share capital unchanged at Rs 112.46 crore, the focus now shifts to whether GTPL can convert its revenue momentum into more stable, sustainable profitability in the coming quarters.
In short, FY26 may have delivered growth on paper but the closing chapter serves as a reminder that in business, as in broadband, consistency is everything.
