BENGALURU: The merged entity comprising of two Indian DTH players – Dish TV India Ltd reported its maiden fourth quarter and fiscal numbers for the periods ending 31 March 2018 (Q4 2018, quarter under review, FY 2018 year or fiscal under review). The two entities of the new behemoth Dish TV India Ltd were - Dish TV India Ltd and Videocon d2h Ltd before the merger. Dish TV and Videocon d2h had reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 82.12 crore and Rs 30.44 crore respectively for fiscal 2017. Individual revenues in fiscal 2017 were Rs 3,014.38 crore and Rs 3,071.73 crore for Dish TV and Videocon dh2 respectively. On 22 March 2018, Videocon d2h had merged with and into Dish TV India Ltd with the appointed date of the merger being 1 October 2017, or for the latter half of financial year 2018. The post merger consolidated operating revenue of Dish TV post merger for FY 2018 was Rs 4.634.16 crore and consolidated net loss was Rs 84.50 crore. Subscription revenue was Rs 4,216.7 crore. Consolidated total comprehensive loss (TCL) for FY 2018 was Rs 81.33 crore.
Dish TV’s fiscal 2018 numbers are not comparable with FY 2017 in the form presented by the company for FY 2018. Financials of Dish TV India Ltd for the quarter ended 31 March 2018 thus represent three months’ financial performance each of Dish TV India Ltd and Videocon d2h Ltd. Similarly, financials of Dish TV India Ltd for the year ended 31 March 2018 represent 12 months’ financial performance of Dish TV India Ltd and six months financial performance of Videocon d2h Ltd. Both companies had reported separate financials for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3-2018, immediate trailing quarter, previous quarter).
Subscriber numbers
The merged company - Dish TV India Ltd had a subscriber base of 2.3 crore with a market share of about 37 per cent at the end of Q4 2018. This makes it the largest private DTH player in the country. ARPU (average revenue per user) of the merged entity for Q4 2018 was Rs 201. For Q3 2018, individually Dish TV had reported ARPU of Rs 144, while Videocon d2h had individually reported ARPU of Rs 208.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by the merged Dish TV
Simple consolidated EBIDTA for fiscal 2018 was Rs 1316.02 crore (28.4 per cent of operating revenue). Total expenditure for FY 2018 was Rs 4,786.23 crore. Employee benefit expense during the year under review was Rs 209.61 crore. Operational cost in fiscal 2018 was Rs 2,476.60 crore. Finance costs were Rs 396.37 crore. Other expenses were Rs 620.82 crore.
Dish TV’s numbers for the fourth quarter
Since the Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger happened in the third quarter of fiscal 2018, a year on year (y-o-y) comparison would not be an apples-to-apples comparison. We have compared how it fared in the fourth and third quarters (quarter over quarter or q-o-q) of 2018.
The merged Dish TV India Ltd consolidated revenue from operations reduced 5.1 q-o-q in the quarter under review to Rs 1,532.37 crore from Rs 1,614.33 crore in Q3-2018. Consolidated total revenue reduced 5.7 per cent q-o-q to Rs 1,545.11 crore from Rs 1,638.50 crore.
The merged entity reported consolidated PAT of Rs 118.21 crore (7.7 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to a loss of Rs 118.21 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q3 2018. Consolidated simple EBITDA in Q4 2018 was 19.5 per cent lower q-o-q at Rs 400.65 crore (26.2 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to Rs 497.84 crore (30.8 per cent of operating revenue). Adjusted consolidated EBITDA (Dish TV claims that a onetime merger expense of Rs 60 crore was accounted for in Q4 2018) was 7.5 per cent lower q-o-q in Q4 2018 at Rs 460.65 crore (30.1 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to Rs 497.84 crore). Consolidated TCI in Q4 2018 was Rs 119.86 crore as compared to a consolidated TCL (total comprehensive loss) of Rs 166.31 crore in the previous quarter.
The merged Dish TV’s consolidated total expenditure was almost the same at Rs 1,611.80 crore in Q4 2018 as compared to Rs 1,612.36 crore in Q3 2018. Operational cost in Q4 2018 increased 2.2 per cent q-o-q to Rs 866.36 crore from Rs 847.74 crore. Employee benefit expense during the quarter under review reduced 0.7 per cent to Rs 66.856 crore from Rs 67.30 crore in Q3 2018. Finance cost in Q4 2018 reduced 7.3 per cent q-o-q to Rs 132.94 crore from Rs 143.38 crore. Other expenses in Q4 2018 reduced 1.5 per cent q-o-q to Rs 195.97 crore from Rs 198.92 crore.
Company speak
In Dish TV’s earnings release, the company’s CMD Jawahar Goel said, “There is significant growth potential both in the short and the long term when it comes to acquiring new subscribers. While in the short term, digitisation will continue to feed subscriber additions, government schemes focused on bridging the urban/rural divide, increasing farm incomes and electricity connection to rural households will create demand for new televisions and pay-tv connections in the years to come.”
On the merged Dish TV, Goel said, “It’s time to now put all thoughts to action and deliver what is expected from two leading platforms when they come together. I am happy to share that merger integration across functions has been successfully completed and new roles, responsibilities and key deliverables have been well received by our team.”
“I see a new sense of passion and urgency all around in the company and believe that we have everything we need to surge ahead,” added Goel.
Three well recognised and powerful brands- Dish TV, d2h and Zing are now being marketed under the Dish TV India Ltd umbrella. Dish TV group CEO Anil Dua said, “Revenue would be further fortified through Value Added Services, some of which have already been cross rolled-out on all three brands. With demonetization, poor rural demand and merger related distractions behind us, we are confident of a sharp turnaround in our operating and financial performance in this fiscal.”
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