Fiction
Q3-2015: Higher depreciation, finance cost pares SAB profit; EBIDTA up
BENGALURU: Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Limited (SAB TV) reported less than one fifth (down 1/5.7 times) PAT in Q3-2015 at Rs 0.54 crore (2.4 per cent of Total income from Operations or TIO) as compared to the Rs 3.1 crore (16.2 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter, and one fifth of the PAT of Rs 2.73 crore in Q2-2015.
The company’s depreciation expense in Q3-2015 was 58.9 per cent higher y-o-y at Rs 3.70 crore versus Rs 2.33 crore and 66.8 per cent more than the Rs 22.21 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
SAB TV’s interest/finance costs have more than trebled (up 3.28 times) in Q3-2015 at Rs 2.42 crore (10.5 per cent of TIO) versus the Rs 0.8 crore (4.8 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter and more than double (up 2.29 times) the Rs 1.06 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore
SAB’s simple EBIDTA without other income calculated using the data furnished by the company to the bourses in Q3-2015 at Rs 6.65 crore (28.8 per cent of TIO) was 9.2 per cent higher y-o-y versus the Rs 6.09 crore (31.8 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and 10.9 per cent more than the Rs 6 crore (27.2 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015
Let us look at the other numbers reported by SAB TV for Q1-2015
SAB reported 20 per cent higher TIO at Rs 23.10 crore in Q4-2015 as compared to the Rs 19;13 crore in Q3-2014 and 5 perceent more than the Rs 22.01 crore in Q2-2015.
SAB’s total expenditure was up 31.1 per cent at Rs 20.16 crore (87.2 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 15.37 crore (80.4 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and was 10.5 per cent more than the Rs 18.24 crore (82.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015.
The company’s production/direct expense (prodn exp) is a major part of the expenditure. In Q3-2015, SAB TV’s production expense at Rs 14.34 crore (62.1 per cent of TIO), which was 3.7 per cent more than the Rs 11.60 crore (60.6 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and was 1.9 per cent more than the Rs 14.07 crore (63.9 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.
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.
