BENGALURU: Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) reported 62.4 per cent growth in Total Income from Operations (TIO) to Rs 544.33 crore in FY-2015 as compared to Rs 335.15 crore in FY15-2014. 

Notes: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

(2) The figures in this report are consolidated figures unless stated otherwise.

(3) The consolidated financial results of the Company comprise of financials of following subsidiaries viz.

Zee Akaash News Private Limited (60 per cent), Mediavest India Private Limited (100 pe rcent), Diligent Media Corporation Limited (99.99 per cent), Pri-Media Services Private Limited (100 per cent) and Company’s share in the results of an Associate entity, Maurya TV Private Limited, wherein Company held 37.87 percent till 11 December, 2014 and post 11 December, 2014, consequent to further acquisitions, Maurya TV Private Limited became Wholly owned Subsidiary of the Company.

Advertisement and Subscription revenue

The company says in its earnings release that advertisement revenue in FY-2015 increased 78.6 per cent to Rs 393.88 crore as compared to the Rs 220.51 crore in FY-2014. Advertising revenue in Q4-2015 increased 82.5 per cent y-o-y in Q4-2014 to Rs 98.69 crore from Rs 53.3 crore in Q4-2014 and was 1.5 per cent lower as compared to the Rs 100.13 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.  

Television advertisement revenue increased 40.8 per cent in FY-2015 to Rs 310.55 crore as compared to Rs 220.51 crore in FY-2014, out of which advertisement revenue from new channels grew 21.9 per cent to Rs 13.81 crore in the current year from Rs 11.33 crore in the previous year.

Television ad revenue in Q4-2015 at Rs 80.16 crore was 50.4 per cent more than the Rs 53.3 crore in Q4-2014. Ad revenue from new channels in Q4-2015 more than trebled (3.1 times) at Rs 5.26 crore as compared to the Rs 1.7 crore in Q4-2014. Advertising revenue from ZMCL’s new channels in Q3-2015 was Rs 3.33 crore. 

Subscription revenue grew 13.7 per cent in FY-2015 to Rs 113.54 crore from Rs 99.90 crore in FY-2014. Subscription revenue grew 11.9 per cent y-o-y to Rs 30.21 crore from Rs 27 crore and was 0.4 per cent lower than the Rs 30.33 crore in Q3-2015.

Let's look at the other numbers reported by ZMCL

ZMCL reported 52.6 per cent growth in TIO at Rs 139.88 crore in Q4-2015 as compared to the Rs 91.69 crore in Q4-2014 and almost flat as compared to the Rs 139.875 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. 

ZMCL reported a loss of Rs 46.65 crore in FY-2015 versus a PAT of Rs 18.93 crore in FY-2014.

The company reported loss of Rs 7.18 crore in Q4-2015 versus a PAT of Rs 4.11 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year and a loss of Rs 10.42 crore in Q3-2015.

Total expense (TE) in FY-2015 at Rs 554.43 crore was 70.2 per cent more than the Rs 325.76 crore in FY-2014. The company’s TE in Q4-2015 at Rs 137.48 crore was 69.1 per cent more than the Rs 81.3 crore in Q4-2014 and was 1.5 per cent more than Rs 135.11 crores in Q3-2015. 

ZMCL’s employee benefit expense (EBE) in FY-2015 at Rs 160.66 crore was 60.6 per cent more than the FY-2014 EBE in Rs 99.1 crore. Q4-2015 EBE at Rs 39.34 crore was 51 per cent more than the Rs 25.13 crore but was 1.1 per cent less than Rs 39.76 crore in Q3-2015.

In FY-2015, ZMCL’s operational cost at Rs 104.70 was 58.3 per cent more than the Rs 66.13 crore in FY-2015. ZMCL’s operational cost in Q4-2015 at Rs 27.94 crore was 70.6 per cent more than the Rs 16.38 crore in Q4-2014 and was 19.5 per cent more than the  Rs 23.39 crore in Q3-2015. 

Company Speak

ZMCL News Cluster group CEO Bhaskar Das said, “The continuing growth of advertising revenue in FY-2015 gave us ample scope to experiment with path breaking content like roping in cricket celebrities for World Cup programming. From ‘update’ to ‘upgrade’ our content philosophy has evolved to cater to the ever increasing demands of an engaged consumer. The initiation of BARC ratings in the new fiscal will bring about a paradigm shift in how the industry and advertisers track the viewership data.”

ZMCL CEO Ashish Kirpal Pandit added, “The company, in addition to upgrading its content and increasing its penetration among advertisers, is also focusing on improving its operational efficiency, which is evident from improving margins. The company plans to make full use of the increase in digitization and expected improvement in viewership measurements and move towards a more analytical approach to doing business.”