MUMBAI: Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd has narrowed its first-quarter net loss as revenue has jumped 10 per cent with a gain in carriage earnings from broadcasters.
A revival in Hyderbad and an entry into new markets through buyouts and joint ventures will shore up the multi-system operator‘s revenues in the second quarter, a senior executive at WWIL said on condition of anonymity.
The multi-system operator (MSO) is planning to get into Varanasi, Asansol, Bilaspur and Bhubaneswar.
"We expect a 10 per cent growth in revenue from the trailing quarter. The fourth-quarter growth should be higher as the acquisitions gain some maturity," the executive added.
WWIL has posted an operating consolidated revenue of Rs 692.46 million for the three months to 30 June, up from Rs 630.06 million.
"Carriage has contributed to 55 per cent of our overall revenues. This formed 51 per cent of our revenue component in the year-ago quarter," the official said.
WWIL‘s consolidated net loss stood at Rs 233.91 million for the quarter ended June 2010, narrowing from the earlier year‘s Rs 477.69 million.
The company, in fact, has turned Ebitda positive compared to the year-ago period. Ebitda for the quarter under review stood at Rs 74 million, from a Rs 100 million loss in the first quarter of FY‘10.
"We have arrested our expenses. Unlike the previous year, there is no expenditure incurred on Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) during the quarter. The content cost has also come down. Our expenses fell 14.77 per cent," said the official.
Expenses in the quarter stood at Rs 782.84 million, down from Rs 918.48 million a year ago.
On standalone basis, WWIL‘s net loss for the quarter stood at Rs 204.65 million (against Rs 464.72 million in Q1 FY‘10). Revenue increased to Rs 497.50 million (from Rs 471.78 million), while expenses were at Rs 569.13 million compared to Rs 753.58 million in the earlier year.
WWIL has seeded 300,000 digital boxes and expects to add a similar amount during the fiscal.
WWIL promoters pledged 34.62 million shares, or 13.18 per cent stake, according to information provided by the company till 30 June 2010.
