BENGALURU: The Subhash Chandra led Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited reported 24.7 per cent year-on year (y-o-y) growth in operating revenue at Rs 1,975.86 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Q2 2019, quarter under review) as compared to the Rs 1,582.75 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter Q2 2018. EBITDA for the quarter under review increased 37.6 per cent y-o-y to Rs 675.72 crore from Rs 491.16 crore. Growth in numbers was driven by 22.7 per cent and 21.3 per cent y-o-y in advertisement and subscription revenues respectively. The company reported ad revenue for Q1 2019 at Rs 1,210.60 crore as compared to Rs 986.74 crore in Q2 2018. Subscription revenue in the quarter under review was Rs 608.16 crore as compared to Rs 501.41 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.

The company, however, reported lower profit after tax (PAT) and lower total comprehensive income (TCI) for Q2 2019 as compared to Q2 2018 on account of higher taxes in Q2 2019 and income from exceptional items in Q2 2018. PAT in Q2 019 was 38.2 per cent lower at Rs 386.10 crore as compared to Rs 625.09 crore in Q2 2018. TCI for Q2 2019 was 19.8 per cent lower at Rs 521.43 crore as compared to Rs 649.83 crore. For Q2 2019, Zeel has reported total tax expenses of Rs 262.42 crore as compared to Rs 148.87 crore in Q2 2018. Zeel had reported income from exceptional items – these were the proceeds of the sale of its sports broadcasting business to the extent of Rs 134.61 crore for Q2 2018.

Zeel chairman Chandra said, “Media and entertainment industry around the world is going through some seminal changes and India is no different. Digital has opened new possibilities for content creators and multiplied the entertainment choices consumers have at their disposal. As India’s leading entertainment content company, ZEEL is strongly positioned to capitalise on this new growth opportunity. Our deep understanding of the Indian consumers will be as instrumental in helping us become the leader in the digital space as it was in helping us achieve the leadership in television. In a short time, ZEE5 has received an overwhelming response and I am confident that the platform will continue to scale-up going forward.”

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Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka said, “ZEE5 is the fastest growing entertainment platform in the country. In a little over six months, it has become the second most popular OTT platform. With a monthly active user base of 41 million and an average daily time spend of 31 minutes, it is growing faster than our expectations. Despite the strong initial performance, I believe it is just the beginning of a long digital journey for us. With a strong pipeline of original content and partnerships with key players in the digital ecosystem, we are confident that ZEE5 will become the default entertainment platform for digital audience.”

“Our broadcast business continues to grow at an impressive pace as evident from the domestic advertising and subscription revenue growth numbers. We continue to consolidate our viewership share which is driving our market leading growth. We believe that our broadcast portfolio has the potential to further increase its market share and the launch of new channel in Kerala will surely help it. The advertising and subscription revenue growth will be aided by the scaling-up of digital business and the growth outlook for both remains strong. This robust performance also gives us room to increase our investments in digital, if required,” added Goenka.

Let us look at the other numbers reported by Zeel

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Total expenses in Q2 2019 increased 20.9 per cent y-o-y to Rs 1,290.60 crore from Rs 1,147.05 crore. Employee benefit expense reduced 7 per cent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 168.72 crore from Rs 181.40 crore in Q2 2018. Operational cost in the quarter under review increased 25.5 per cent y-o-y to Rs 725.34 crore from Rs 578.89 crore in Q2 2018.

Finance costs increased y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 5.45 crore from Rs 0.28 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year. Other expenses increased 26.6 per cent y-o-y in quarter under review to Rs 240.03 crore from Rs 189.57 crore in Q2 2018.

The company incurred 49 per cent higher fair value loss on financial instruments at fair value through profit and loss for Q2 2019 at Rs 22.02 crore as compared to Rs 14.78 crore in Q2 2018.

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