MUMBAI: Television production house Balaji Telefilms continues its profit run, improving its preceding quarter performance and turning around from the year-before quarter as its other income jumped on account of sale of discontinued operations.

Balaji Tele finished the fiscal-fourth quarter with a net profit of Rs 15.4 million compared to a loss of Rs 11.5 million a year before.

The company?s other income grew to Rs 90.8 million from Rs 3.9 million. Income from operations, however, trimmed by 35 per cent to Rs 278.4 million on account of reduction in the number of hours of commissioned & sponsored segment and lower realisation on sponsored revenue.

The company brought down its total expenditure by 11 per cent to Rs 385.6 million, from Rs 431.3 million in the previous fiscal of the same quarter.

The company?s income from operations during the quarter was Rs 247.3 million compared to Rs 337.8 million. Revenue contribution from commissioned programming (HSM) was Rs 223.2 million against Rs 271.1 million, while that of sponsored programming was Rs 24.1 million as against Rs 66.7 million.

In the quarter under review, the company has reported an operating loss of Rs 16.4 million against an operating profit of Rs 1.8 million. The company reported a negative Ebitda of Rs 16.4 million in the current quarter from Rs 1.8 million a year ago.

Realisation on programming hours

Realisation per hour from commissioned programming (HSM) increased to Rs 1.86 million against Rs 1.807 million.
The company produces shows like Pavitra Rishtaa, Bade Achee Lagte Ho, Parichay, Kya Hua Tera Vaada, and Gumraah.

Hours of commissioned programmes reduced from 150 hours to 120 hours while hours of sponsored programmes reduced from 190 hours to 126 hours.

Balaji Motion Pictures

As on 31 March, the company?s total investments were at Rs 2.58 billion including Rs 300 million invested in wholly owned subsidiary Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd (BMPL) with as much as Rs 209.962 billion being invested in units of mutual funds & debentures issued by other corporate & Trusts During the quarter, BMPL achieved a turnover of Rs 584.4 million as against Rs 416.9 million during the previous fiscal. In the current financial year, BMPL has reported profit of Rs 88.3 million against Rs 23.2 million for the same quarter a year ago.

The company?s cost increased substantially to Rs 501.9 million compared to Rs 391.1 million in the year-ago period. Ebitda for the quarter was Rs 82.5 million, up from Rs 25.8 million.

Balaji Tele?s FY?12 performance

Balaji Telefilms posted a net profit of Rs 204.41 million for the fiscal ending 31 March as per the consolidated audited results. The company had finished previous fiscal in red with a net loss of Rs 10.80 million.

The company?s net sales in the fiscal reduced by Rs.145.8 million to 1.7657 billion due to the fall in turnover of the Balaji Telefilms by Rs 313.4 million on a standalone basis, which was due to reduction in volume of Hindi Commissioned programmes from 617 hours to 466 hours.

Total expenditure fell by Rs 88.917 million to Rs 1.9378 billion compared to Rs 2.0268 billion in the trailing fiscal. The company?s cost of production/acquisition and telecast fees increased by Rs 230.123 million to end at Rs 1.4670 billion. Staff cost too saw a minor increase at Rs 199.833 million as against Rs 183.652 million in the previous fiscal.

However, the fall in turnover was supported due to the improved performance of BMPL which increased in turnover by Rs 167.6 million, a 40 per cent increase as compared to last year mainly due to the excellent performance of The Dirty Picture.