MUMBAI: Hathway Cable & Datacom, which had raised Rs 4.80 billion this year via its initial public offering (IPO), has come out with a mixed bag of results to show for FY ‘10.
For the whole fiscal, the MSO (multi system operator) has managed to reduce its net loss to Rs 815.50 million, from Rs 1.06 billion in previous fiscal. Its bottomline was eroded to a certain extent thanks to higher amortisation and depreciation costs at Rs 899.64 million up from Rs 816.61 million, in the previous year.
Hathway‘s net income for the fiscal stood almost flat at Rs 4 billion, as compared to Rs 3.96 billion a year ago, a marginal increase of 1.1 per cent
Hathway has also managed to reduce its expenditure this financial year. Another positive sign for the company is that profit before interest, other income, depreciation and exceptional items at Rs 705.1 million has increased by 8.7 per cent.
The company disclosed that it has so far utilised Rs 105.6 million of the IPO proceeds, while Rs 4.10 billion has been invested in mutual funds and the rest is deposited with banks.
The depreciation, amortisation and impairment expenditure of the company at Rs 899.65 million is very high, and has in fact gone up from last year by approximately Rs 80 million.
The company noted that it has suffered a major setback in Chennai, where it lost subscribers to competition because of "unforeseen conditions," leaving it to recover its equipments.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2010, Hathway posted a net loss of Rs 99.34 million, on an income of Rs 987 million. If it continues with this performance, its profit & loss statement is likely to be stained a little less red by the time the current fiscal ends.
The company has Rs 4.1 billion in mutual funds, which if their NAVs rise could be a major contributing factor to its other income in the coming quarter, and may prove to be its turning point. However, one has to wait and watch how the markets and the company‘s investments perform, before drawing any conclusions.
A profit of Rs 55.8 million after depreciation for the last quarter of fiscal 2010 is also a good sign for the company, and apparently investors are playing a wait and watch game, irrespective of the overall losses sustained by it. The Hathway closing price on Friday 14 May was Rs 205.90.
