Fiction
Q3-2015: Balaji q-o-q income up 22% on higher programming, less loss
BENGALURU: Balaji Telefilms Limited (Balaji Telefilms) reported 21.6 per cent growth in consolidated Total Income from Operations (TIO) at Rs 71.54 crore in Q3-2015 (quarter ended 31 December, 2014, current quarter) from Rs 58.84 crore in the immediate trailing quarter and 69.1 per cent more than the Rs 42.30 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. 9M-2015 TIO was however 16.6 per cent lower at Rs 268.68 crore than the Rs 322.38 crore in 9M-2014.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
All numbers are consolidated unless stated otherwise
The company reported a lower consolidated loss of Rs 6.96 crore in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 7.58 crore in the previous quarter, but higher loss than the loss of Rs 5.75 crore in the year ago quarter. The company reported a loss of Rs 3.98 crore in 9M-2015 versus a profit after tax of Rs 10.18 crore in 9M-2014.
On a standalone basis, Balaji’s EBIDTA at Rs 4.25 crore was more than double the EBIDTA of Rs 2.01 crore in Q3-2014. Standalone EBIDTA for Q2-2015 was negative Rs 2.98 crore, while for 9M-2015, it was Rs 5.07 crore against an EBIDTA of Rs 0.09 crore in 9M-2014.Standalone PAT at Rs 3.09 crore was 86 per cent more than the Rs 1.66 crore in Q3-2014. The company had reported a standalone loss of Rs 2.39 crore in Q2-2015. For 9M-2015, standalone profit was 73 per cent lower at Rs 2.66 crore as compared to the Rs 9.89 crore in 9M-2015.
Higher revenue in the current quarter can be attributed to the fact that Balaji produced 60.1 per cent more hours of programming at 277 hour in the current quarter versus the 173 hours in Q3-2014 and 26.5 per cent more than the 219 hours in Q2-2015. However, the company reported lower revenue per hour of Rs 20.64 lakh in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 21.18 lakh in the corresponding year ago quarter and a little higher than the Rs 20.45 lakh in the immediate trailing quarter. The revenue per hour and the hours of programming excludes regional segment, event business and incentives.
Consequently, revenue from commissioned programmes went up 50.6 per cent in Q3-2015 to Rs 61.97 crore from Rs 41.16 crore in Q3-2014 and was 25.6 per cent more than the Rs 49.33 crore in Q2-2015. Commissioned programmes segment reported 41.4 per cent higher operating profit at Rs 7.56 crore in the current quarter from Rs 5.35 crore in Q3-2014 and was 29.2 per cent more than the Rs 5.85 crore in the previous quarter.
Revenue from commissioned programmes increased 68 per cent to Rs 157.30 crore in 9M-2015 as compared to the Rs 98.89 crore in 9M-2015. Operating profit from this segment more than doubled to Rs 19.57 crore in 9M-2015 as compared to the Rs 9 crore in 9M-2014.
Soon, with Balaji’s content portfolio comprises more than 20 films that are expected to hit the silver screen in the near term, the company’s films segment should again start churning out larger numbers and consolidated profits.
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.
