News Broadcasting
SBI Mutual Fund is the Mutual Fund of the year at CNBC-TV18 – CRISIL Mutual Fund Awards
MUMBAI: In a glittering ceremony, CNBC-TV18, India’s leading Business Medium and CRISIL, India’s premier ratings agency announced the most sought after and valued Mutual Fund Award in the country – ‘CNBC-TV18 – CRISIL Mutual Fund of the Year Award’.
Mark Tucker, Chief Executive of Prudential & Ajay Srinivasan, Chief Executive, Fund Management, Prudential Corporation Asia spoke on the performance of mutual funds across the world, emerging trends, investor reactions and expectations setting the tone for the evening. This was followed by a p anel discussion with Mr Ramesh Damani, Mr Jaikumar, Mr Kela and Mr Naganathan moderated by Udayan Mukherjee.
As the most powerful radar to prosperity, the CNBC TV18 and CRISIL Mutual Fund of the Year awards performance and consistency in wealth creation of enterprising fund houses for the year 2006. These Awards, based on CRISIL’s objective and analytically rigorous CRISIL~CPR methodology, are the ultimate test in performance and consistency on one of the most distinguished platform.
These awards are the Investors most definite guide to the best managed fund house in the country. It brings together the world’s most renowned investment experts and shares their ideas, philosophies and predictions.
The winners in the various categories at the Mutual Fund of the Year were:
|
Category
|
Winner
|
| Large Cap Oriented Equity Funds | DSP Merrill Lynch Opportunities Fund Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Focus |
| Diversified Equity Funds | SBI Magnum Global Fund SBI Magnum Sector Umbrella – Contra Fund Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap |
| ELSS | SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993 |
| Income Funds | Principal Income Fund UTI Bond Fund |
| Income Short | Reliance Short Term Fund |
| Balanced Funds | HDFC Prudence Fund SBI Magnum Balanced Fund |
| Liquid Funds | HDFC Cash Management Fund – Savings Plan UTI Liquid cash plan |
| Liquid Funds Institutional | Tata Liquid Fund – SHIP |
| Liquid Funds Super Institutional | UTI Liquid Cash Plan – Institutional Plan |
| Gilt Funds Long | Reliance Gilt Securities Fund – Long Term Plan Templeton India G-Sec Fund – Long Term Plan |
| MIP Aggressive | HDFC Monthly Income Plan – LTP |
| MIP Conservative | Prudential ICICI MIP Plan – Cumulative |
| Floating Rate Funds (Long term) | Principal Floating Rate Fund – Flexible Maturity Plan |
| Floating Rate Funds (Short term) | HDFC Floating Rate Income Fund – Short Term Plan |
| Sectoral –IT | SBI Magnum Sector Umbrella – Infotech Fund |
| Emerging Fund of the Year (diversified equity) | Prudential ICICI Infrastructure Fund |
| Mutual Fund of the Year | SBI Mutual Fund |
In addition to leaders from various fund houses, luminaries from India’s financial services sector including senior regulators, leading economists and analysts witnessed a host of awards being presented to various mutual funds for their consistent performance over time on the CRISIL~CPR performance rankings framework.
Commenting on the methodology Rupa Kudva, ED & Chief Rating Officer,CRISIL, said “The fund house of the year award is given to the mutual fund which performs well in CRISIL’s CPR framework, has a good presence across categories, and wins at least 2 category level awards”
Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Haresh Chawla, CEO, TV18 Group said, “The size of the Mutual fund industry is a burgeoning Rs 3,39,662 crore indicating the popularity enjoyed by Mutual funds amongst investors who want to participate in India’s growth story. Increased popularity in Mutual funds as an investment avenue and a spurt in the number of innovative mutual funds calls for a robust, unbiased and objective evaluation of the annual performances of funds. Since its inception, ‘The CNBC-TV18 – CRISIL Mutual Fund of the Year Award’ has established a benchmark for excellence in the Mutual Fund industry and has over the years, assisted investors to make the right choices in their mutual fund investments.”
Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Ashvin Arora, Director, OptiMix, said, “CNBC Mutual Fund awards is a landmark event in the Indian Mutual Fund Industry, which recognizes and rewards the best managed fund houses on the basis of objective performance criteria laid down by Crisil. As India’s first multi-manager, Optimix identifies best of breed mutual funds and blends them together into separate products, so that optimal combinations of expertise and style are available to the investor. The Optimix process helps the investor with superior, consistent wealth creation. All in all, this is a great fit and we are proud to be associated with the CNBC TV-18-Crisil Mutual Fund Awards 2007. My heartiest congratulations to the winners of this prestigious award.”
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.
