MUMBAI: Eros International Media, the recently listed pure play movie production company, has posted a consolidated second-quarter net profit (after minority interest) of Rs 453.3 million, up 12.9 per cent over the year-ago period.
The company‘s total income, however, fell 30.87 per cent to Rs 1.88 billion for the three-month period ended September. Expenses also dropped to Rs 1.32 billion, from Rs 2.13 billion in the year-ago period.
Profit from operations before other income, interest & exceptional items was at Rs 562.7 million, from Rs. 583.1 million in the earlier year.
On a standalone basis, Eros‘ net profit fell to Rs 175.9 million, from Rs 292.7 million a year ago. Total income was Rs 934.5 million (from Rs 2.46 billion), while expenses were down at Rs 657.4 million (Rs 2.01 billion).
During the first half of the current fiscal, consolidated net profit rose 29.5 per cent to Rs 608.4 million, as against Rs 470 million in the second quarter of FY‘10. Total income was at Rs 3.15 billion compared to Rs 3.37 billion in the earlier year.
The profit from operations before other income, interest & exceptional items increased 20.4 per cent to Rs 809.2 million.
Eros was listed on Indian bourses on 6 October after completing its Rs 3.5 billion IPO. The company raised funds primarily for acquiring and co-producing Indian films including Hindi as well as certain Tamil and other regional language films.
In the first half, Eros has released 39 films – the highest by any player in the sector. The list includes Housefull, Anjaana Anjaani, Paathshaala and overseas release of Dabangg and Endhiran (Tamil & Telugu), Ravanan, Singham, Sura (in Tamil) and Haapus in Marathi.
Eros also signed a multi-film content licensing deal worth Rs 640 million for broadcast on Zee Entertainment. This deal involves exclusive broadcasting of a select number of Eros International’s films across Zee Entertainment’s television network.
Eros said it has signed, to date, Rs 2.4 billion worth television and music syndication deals that will start augmenting revenues and deliver earnings that have attractive margins in FY’11 and FY’12.
Commenting on the results Eros International Media MD Sunil Lulla said, “At the heart of our business strategy is our catalogue, our strong movie pipeline mainly tied up through our co-productions and our strong distribution network in India and international market leadership through our parent Eros International plc. With over a 30-year successful track record backed by a unique de-risked business model underpinned by our portfolio pre-sales approach, we are proud to have achieved a scale second to none by staying focused and building on our core competency of content and distribution. Our strong margins bring out how we successfully leverage our scale and our co-production relationships to keep down costs and bring revenue predictability, reflecting robust business fundamentals."
