MUMBAI: Dr Prannoy Roy's New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV) has announced its results for the quarter ended 31 March 2004. The company achieved cash break even in the fourth quarter in its first year of operation as a broadcaster.

The turnaround in the fourth quarter took place after losses in the first three quarters, a company release states. NDTV's EBIDTA. (earnings before interest, depreciation and tax) in the fourth quarter amounted to a positive Rs 17.5 million, it said.

The breakeven was achieved with a sharp increase in income from advertisers. NDTV's income for the fourth quarter amounted to Rs 239.8 million, compared to an income of Rs 341.4 million for the earlier nine months. (Average quarterly income reported during the first nine months works out to Rs 113.8 million.)

The company's loss for the first three quarters was reported at Rs 473.8 million. This increased in the fourth quarter by a small amount provided for depreciation of Rs 26.1 million. For the full year, on a consolidated basis, NDTV has reported an income of Rs 689.8 million and a net loss of Rs 496.2 million, says the release.

The company recently came out with an IPO of 15.57 million equity shares of Rs 4 each at an issue price of Rs 70 per share. At the time of the IPO the company had a solid base of advertisers with 249 clients (402 brands), in the last three months this base has grown to 321 clients (565 brands) for the year as a whole.

The NDTV scrip is currently trading at Rs 85.25.