TV18 Broadcast Ltd reported a robust growth in operating profit and revenue for the quarter ended in June. The media firm’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) rose 323 per cent year-on-year to Rs 188 crore during the quarter under review. It was Rs 44 crore during the same period last year.
The jump in operating profit was driven by the original content. The monetisation had limited the impact on ad-revenue from second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the company said. “Entertainment advertising was impacted by the second wave, as ad-demand dipped in May-early June due to lockdowns. However, original content production and telecasts were continued by tackling lockdown-driven logistical challenges through bio-bubbles, shifting shooting locations, and other innovative/agile solutions,” TV18 Broadcast mentioned in a statement.
The company posted a 16.2 per cent jump in operating margin highest ever during the first quarter. The operating margin was 5.7 per cent in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
The consolidated revenue from operations climbed 49 per cent Rs 1,155 crore in Q1FY22, against Rs 776 crore a year ago. The consolidated profits after tax jumped to Rs 162 crore on the back of strong operating performance.
Commenting on company’s stellar performance, Adil Zainulbhai, chairman of TV18, said, “The second wave of COVID-19 could have been the dominant theme for the industry and indeed for us during the quarter….but it wasn’t. Led by the many learnings from the past year and a responsibility to serve the Indian audience, we have been able to continue our businesses relentlessly and profitably.”
“TV News advertising remained resilient despite the second wave, led by a rise in news consumption and digital events replacing physical ones,” the company said.
TV viewership rose 9 per cent on a quarterly basis.”News genre viewership jumped 28 per cent QoQ led by the second wave and multiple state and elections. The salience and resilience of our fully-pay news-network shone through,” the media group said in a statement.
Entertainment viewership also grew 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter. “Our share of TV entertainment rose further to around 11 per cent in Q1FY22, up sharply from a low of around 9.2 per cent in Q1FY21,” TV18 said. Subscription revenue grew 4 per cent year-on-year. “Domestic subscription revenue continued to grow led by expanded tie-ups in TV and Digital (both B2B and B2C). International subscription remains under stress,” it further added.
TV18 Broadcast Ltd said that cost controls were maintained across business lines, despite second wave driven escalations. “Consistent controls on costs across business lines led a reduction in group operating expenses, despite cost-pushes in content and distribution. Even compared with Q1FY20, operating expenses fell 14 per cent YoY,” the company said.
“While advertising hit a speed-breaker (primarily in entertainment), growing engagement on our platforms across TV and Digital make us confident of delivering for all our stakeholders even amidst a choppy environment. We continue to invest to ramp up offerings on our class-leading digital platforms. At the same time, we are selectively creating segmented offerings to enhance our TV portfolio in a capital-efficient manner,” chairman of TV18 added.
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Source: News18