BENGALURU: This is the second consecutive year that direct to home (DTH) company Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) has reported growth across important financial and operational parameters including operating revenues (TIO), profit after tax (PAT) and subscription numbers. Last fiscal and quarter (year and quarter ended 31 March, 2015, FY-15 and Q4-15), Essel Group’s DTH operator Dish TV Limited turned the corner with a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.14 crore and Rs 34.94 crore (margin 4.8 per cent) respectively. The company has followed this up with improved numbers for the subsequent two quarters of FY-16, and rendered a fait accompli of sorts in the final quarter with the largest ever subscription numbers add in a quarter in Q4-16, as if to reiterate – Profits are here to stay!.

Dish TV says that so far it is the only company in the Indian DTH sector to have achieved net profitability. 

Dish TV reported subscription revenue of Rs 2,827.5 crore in the fiscal ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current year). Operating revenue in the current year increased to Rs 3,059.9 crore from Rs 2,687.9 crore in the previous year.

Dish TV reported PAT of Rs. 692.4 crore in FY-16, including deferred tax expense of Rs. 436 crore.

During FY-16, Dish TV says that it has achieved the full year guidance of 15 lakh subscribers. In Q4-16 (quarter ended 31 March 2016, current quarter) Dish TV added 5.08 lakh subscribers. The company also reported higher Rs 174 in Q4-16 as compared to Rs 172 in Q3-16.

Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee - Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

Operating revenue for Q4-16 increased 9.5 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) to Rs 799.3 crore from Rs 729.9 crore and increased 3.6 percent quarter-over-quarter from Rs 771.5 crore in Q3-16.

EBIDTA in the current year increased 39.8 percent to Rs 1,024.9 crore from Rs 733.1 crore in FY-15. EBIDTA in Q4-16 at Rs 260.8 crore increased 18.1 percent y-o-y from Rs 220.9 crore in Q4-15 but declined 1.7 percent q-o-q from Rs 265.4 crore in Q3-16.

Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “Fiscal 2016 was yet another year that saw global economic uncertainty take centre-stage all throughout. Notwithstanding that, the Indian economy registered good economic growth as the government focused on development through reforms. With the macro economy showing early signs of pick-up and the Met department predicting an ‘above normal’ monsoon, fiscal 2017 has already started on an optimistic note. So far as the DTH industry is concerned a strong agrarian economy, further supported by government initiatives like 100% village electrification,  and prospering urban areas, with 24x7 power supply, shall certainly ensure growth for the industry going forward.”

Talking about subscriber additions during the quarter, Goel, said, “We had a well-defined plan in place to target these markets. Our campaign ‘Set-Top-Box Matlab Dish TV’ had the desired impact while the specially designed sports packs ensured that sports fans didn’t go elsewhere during the cricket season. Higher investments behind the brand not only ensured higher brand scores but a stronger brand recall as well. To further strengthen our connect with the customer, we upgraded our existing service infrastructure and enhanced distribution in areas that were not up to the mark. Thus covering newer territories.”

Talking about the fourth quarter results, Goel said, “Healthy subscriber additions and a higher ARPU improved the subscription revenues by 12.6 percent over the corresponding quarter last fiscal. EBITDA of Rs. 260.8 crore recorded an 18.1 percent jump over the corresponding quarter. Net Profit for the quarter was Rs. 482.8 crore as against Rs. 34.9 crore in the fourth quarter last fiscal. The resultant free cash flow was Rs. 104.7 crore. Churn for the quarter remained steady at 0.7 percent per month.”

The company also added 8 new channels to its platform during the month of April 2016 taking its total offering size to more than 525 channels and  services. To further enhance the digital TV experience for subscribers and build an affordable and fast deployment model for itself, Dish TV
selected Wyplay’s Frog as the Middleware for its next generation Set-Top-Boxes. Wyplay is an HTML5 browser based system and incorporates all features required for traditional linear broadcast TV consumption, on-demand content and applications distributed over the internet.

Talking about these developments, Goel said, “We had our share of ups and downs during the year, but I am glad that we came out as winners at the end of it all. The fast paced dynamism of technological, regulatory and industrial developments kept us productively occupied and brought the best out of us.  We are in tune with the environmental shift around us and are motivated to be ahead of the curve as complex changes take place.”