News Broadcasting
Shin Sat signs $390 m. loan deal for iPSTAR-1
MUMBAI: Asia’s number two satellite operator Shin Satellite Plc. of Thailand today announced it had signed a $390 million loan deal for its long in gestation iPSTAR-1 project.
The announcement comes over two years (August 2000) after Shin Sat awarded the contract for the design and construction of iPSTAR-1 to Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). iPSTAR-1 is a high-powered geostationary satellite to be used for broadband communications applications.
Shin Sat announced that it has signed with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (“Ex-Im Bank”) and Compagnie Francaise d’Assurance pour la Commerce Extrieur de France (COFACE) agreements for loan guarantee facilities of a total of $ 265 million. Shin Sat has also signed a $ 125 million syndicated commercial bank facility arranged jointly by BNP Paribas and Citibank/SalomonSmithBarney. The credit support from the Ex-Im Bank and Coface will be in the form of a guarantee facility provided by Citibank and BNP Paribas.
The credit support from the Ex-Im Bank represents approximately 85 per cent of US content, mostly for the payment of the satellite’s construction by SS/Loral. Support from COFACE will cover 85 per cent of the cost of launching the satellite on Arianespace from French Guyana, an official release says.
The Ex-Im support effectively makes iPSTAR the only broadband satellite project in the world to receive full financing, the release asserts. The company expects to receive iPSTAR-1 by the end of 2003 and see it fully operational in early 2004. In the meantime, Shin Satellite has deployed gateways in several important markets in this Asia-Pacific region.
Shin Sat will use iPSTAR-1, a satellite with a hybrid Ka-/Ku-band communications payload, to provide direct-to-desktop, last-mile services, including new multi-media and data services to customers in Asia, India, and Australia.
With total satellite power of approximately 14 kW, iPSTAR-1 will provide 100 beams in the Ku-band and the Ka-band – to deliver broad coverage from its orbital location at 1200 East longitude. iPSTAR-1 is designed to provide 12 years of uninterrupted service life.
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.
