Fiction
Q2-2016: Balaji Telefilms’ QoQ PAT more than triples despite lower revenue
BENGALURU: Balaji Telefilms Limited (Balaji Telefilms) reported 3.5 times consolidated profit after tax (PAT) in the quarter ended 30 September, 2015 (Q2-2016, current quarter) at Rs 7.29 crore (13.2 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 2.09 crore (2.8 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter. The company had reported a loss of Rs 75.80 crore in Q2-2015.
Note: (1)100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
(2) All numbers are consolidated unless stated otherwise.
The company reported eight per cent YoY drop in consolidated total income from operations (TIO) current quarter to Rs 55.08 crore from Rs 59.86 crore and 27.3 per cent drop from Rs 74.64 crore in Q1-2016.
The company’s revenue from commissioned programs segment in Q2-2016 increased YoY to Rs 51.18 crore from Rs 49.33 crore but declined 30.4 per cent from Rs 73.58 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. The segment’s operating profit in the current quarter increased by 2.2 times YoY to Rs 13 crore from Rs 5.85 crore and increased 11.4 per cent QoQ from Rs 11.67 crore.
Total programming hours (excluding Nach Baliye) in the current quarter at 199 were lower than 219 hours in Q2-2015 and 209 hours in Q1-2016. Revenue per hour in Q2-2016 was Rs 24.3 lakh, higher than the Rs 20.50 lakh in the year ago quarter. For the immediate trailing quarter, revenue per hour was also Rs 24.3 lakh. The company says that drop in number of hours in the current quarter is mainly on account of Jodha Akbar going off-air in August 2015.
Balaji’s other segment – Films, reported revenue of just Rs 1.64 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 9.43 crore in Q2-2015. The segment reported revenue of Rs 1.04 crore in Q1-2016.
Film’s segment reported operating profit of Rs 0.06 crore in Q2-2016 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 7.46 crore in Q2-2015 and an operating loss of Rs 0.45 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
Total Expenditure in the current quarter declined 10.2 per cent to Rs 45.85 crore as compared to Rs 51.07 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and declined 28.5 per cent from Rs 64.16 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company’s cost of production in the current quarter declined 33 per cent YoY to Rs 36.7 crore from Rs 54.6 crore and declined 39 per cent QoQ from Rs 60.2 crore.
Staff cost increased 19 per cent YoY and QoQ to Rs 50 crore from Rs 42 crore.
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
