Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEE), the country’s leading television and media firm, reported a 21% rise in net profit for the quarter ended June at Rs157 crore on the back of strong advertising and subscription revenues.
Advertising revenues for April-June rose 18% to Rs447.2 crore, while subscription revenues at Rs364.2 crore (Rs250.5 crore domestic and Rs113.7 crore international) were up 19% year on year.
Subhash Chandra, chairman, ZEE, said the company’s strong improvement in the operating and financial performance during the quarter is very encouraging.
“This has been on the back of increased investments we are undertaking to grow the business and market share. We have a very strong balance sheet and I am confident that we would take advantage of the growth opportunities ahead of us and will record improved operating performance in the period ahead,” he said.
The company’s consolidated operating revenue for June quarter also witnessed a 21% increase at Rs843 crore year on year while consolidated operating profit grew 50% to Rs233.2 crore. Ebitda and net profit margin stood at 27.7% and 18.6%, respectively.
Improvement in the operating performance during the first quarter, the company said, indicates that the Zee portfolio of channels has done well both in terms of viewership ratings and revenues.
Punit Goenka, managing director and chief executive officer, ZEE, said the company’s flagship channel, Zee TV has seen a rise in the average gross rating points (GRPs) in the April-June quarter as compared to third and fourth quarters of the last fiscal.
“During the quarter, we have been able to improve operating margins, partly due to higher viewership share and partly due to lower sports losses. In line with our focus of investing in content and programming, we have launched new shows in the quarter, which have been well received by the audience. It is heartening to note that many of our products have improved in genre ratings during the quarter and feature in the top tier of their respective genres. Our effort is to continue this journey and aim at the leadership slot now,” he said.
During the quarter, Zee TV averaged 215 GRPs recording a relative share of 21.2% among the top five Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) and is now No.2 GEC in terms of ratings. Also, its market share in the prime time band improved significantly wherein Zee TV averaged 122 GRPs, recording a relative share of 23.1%.
The channel delivered a weekly average of 23 shows among top 100 shows during the quarter, led by the top rated fiction shows such as Pavitra Rishta, Punar Vivah and Mrs Kaushik and the non-fiction show Dance India Dance Lil Masters. Zee TV also launched new shows, Phir Subah Hogi and Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke, and extended its prime time on weekends with Fear Files in this quarter.
