News Broadcasting
SOM Distilleries & Breweries launches Milestone100 and White Fox
NEW DELHI : SOM Distilleries & Breweries Limited (SOM) today launched a new, ambitious and premium brand ‘Milestone100’ and ‘Whit Fox’ at a grand event at The Grand in Delhi.
Veteran Bollywood actor & Brand Ambassador ‘Milestone100’, Manoj Bajpai along with Mr. J K Arora, Chairman & MD, SOM Group of Companies and Mr. Deepak Arora, CEO, SOM Group of Companies, unveiled the new brand at a glittering event, which also saw performances from Bollywood actress Bruna Abdullah.
‘Milestone100’ has been specially made for people aspiring to achieve new milestones in their lives, and thus the tagline ‘Thodda Aur’. And, the 100 denotes 100% purest form. A premium brand from the company, the whole packaging has been crafted sensuously by O&M, who have designed it keeping in mind the likes and preferences of Indian drinkers. The octagonal shape of the bottle & diagonally cut two piece mono carton is a first in the Indian market, which makes it innovative, unique and attractive.
The diagonal three piece label, the octagonal shape and the classy tones on the outer pack will enable ‘Milestone100’ to stand out distinctly from its peers.
It was also an opportunity for the company to launch ‘The White Fox’ vodka, a triple distilled grain vodka which is prepared exclusively using state of the art porous/ carbon filtration technology to ensure and give the consumers that absolute clarity and smoothness to the blend which makes it an unmatched quality product in its price offering.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Deepak Arora, CEO, SOM Group of Companies said, ‘We have completed 25 successful years, and with Milestone100 & White Fox Vodka, we are ready to enter the premium segment. A lot of time and effort has been put into manufacturing Milestone100, which has been blended with the finest blend of triple distilled 100% premium grain whisky, with imported 100% scotch malts, matured exclusively in oak casks from Scotland. This has resulted in a product, which is the perfect combination of smoothness and strength, without any artificial flavours.”
Added Mr. J K Arora, Chairman, SOM Group of Companies, “The company, and collectively as a group, we have grown significantly over the past several years. In fact, our performance has been above industry average on many parameters, and the same is validated by the recent recognition – SOM Distilleries & Breweries Limited was featured in August 2013 in the Forbes Top 200 companies (best under a billion in sales in the whole of Asia Pacific), chosen out of a set of 15,000 companies, and has also been ranked 93rd in Inc. India 500 (India’s fastest growing companies under Rs. 1,500 crores). And, we hope to continue this momentum with the launch of Milestone100 and The White Fox.
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.
