MUMBAI: India's leading DTH operator, Dish TV, has narrowed its net loss in the fiscal first-quarter to Rs 323 million compared to a net loss of Rs 490 million in the trailing quarter.

Ebitda stands at Rs 1.56 billion, up from Rs 1.44 billion in the preceding quarter, as the company has cut down on marketing costs. The content cost has seen 2.9 per cent rise and is in line with the industry expectation. But a deal with Media Pro, which distributes Star, Zee and Turner channels, is expected this month which would up the content cost.

“Net loss of Rs 323 million was adversely impacted by foreign exchange loss of Rs 138 million. At the cash flow front, Dish TV continued to be free cash positive for the second consecutive quarter,” said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel.

Operating revenue has seen a marginal decline (0.9 per cent), but Dish TV has seen subscriber growth while ARPUs (average revenue per user) have climbed from Rs 151 to Rs 156. With Dish TV taking a price increase of Rs 20 in the first week of July across all its monthly packs, the ARPU for this fiscal should rise to around 5 per cent.

The churn rate has bettered to 1 per cent, against 1.1 per cent in the trailing quarter.

Dish TV added 504,000 gross subscribers in the quarter ended 30 June, taking its total base to 13.4 million gross and 9.8 million net subscribers at the end of the quarter. The company is on track to achieve its target of 2.5 million new subscribers in the fiscal.

“Churn sustained its downward movement, closing at 1% per month, while ARPU strengthened to Rs 156, mainly due to the price hikes taken previously.

Efficiencies at the cost front helped enhance operating margins despite normalised lease rentals flattening the top-line growth. Enhanced offer fee, coupled with higher number of subscriber adds sequentially, maintained subscriber acquisition cost largely in line with the previous quarter,” Goel said.

Dish TV’s subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) has jumped to Rs 2,145 compared to Rs 2,127 in the preceding quarter.

Dish TV‘s operating revenue fell by 0.9 per cent to Rs 5.20 billion, compared to Rs 5.25 billion in the trailing quarter.
Subscription revenue grew 5 per cent QoQ to Rs 4.5 billion on higher ARPUs. Carriage income fell to Rs 80 million, from Rs 130 million.

Dish TV has controlled its expenses during the quarter which stood at Rs 3.64 billion, from Rs 3.80 billion in the previous quarter. This was due to a 49.6 per cent cut in advertisement expenses.

The company spent Rs 135 million on advertising compared to Rs 268 million in the previous quarter. Marketing spends should go up substantially as the company guided an expenditure of Rs 1 billion this fiscal.