Zeel expects to cut down sports losses to Rs 700 mn in FY'13

MUMBAI: Broadcasting major Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) expects to cut down its sports losses this fiscal to Rs 700 million as subscription revenues are showing strong growth trends.

?The distribution revenues should see an upside. International syndication, including Pakistan and the Middle East, should look up. The cricketing lineup is also reasonable. There could also the possibility of a series between India and Pakistan in the fiscal,? a source said.

The live telecast of cricket properties in FY?13 include series like Sri Lanka-England and West Indies-Australia (April 2012); Sri Lanka-Pakistan (May-June); West Indies-New Zealand and Sri Lanka-India (July-August); Zimbabwe-Bangladesh (August-September); Zimbabwe-Pakistan and Sri Lanka-New Zealand (November-December); South Africa-New Zealand (December 2012-January 2013); and South Africa-Pakistan , Sri Lanka-Bangladesh and West Indies-Zimbabwe (February-March 2013).

The prime revenue from cricket will be from the India-Sri Lanka series. The company is targeting ad revenue of Rs800 million from the series. There is only one India-playing series this fiscal.

A weakening rupee , though, remains a concern. The weakening of the rupee had upset Zeel?s early guidance of capping sports losses at Rs 1 billion in the previous fiscal. Hit by forex losses to the tune of Rs 270-Rs 280 million, the company ended FY?12 with a loss of Rs 1.48 billion from its sports broadcasting business on a revenue of Rs 3.93 billion.

?Ten Sports (the sports broadcasting arm of Zeel) has seen a 13 per cent increase in content cost due to the softening of the Indian currency. When the content deals were signed, the rupee was around Rs 44 to a dollar,? a source said.

For the fiscal ended March 2011, Zeel?s sports losses stood at Rs 2.08 billion on a revenue of Rs 4.4 billion.