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Zee Entertainment AGM Highlights: Zee Entertainment held its 39th annual general meeting (AGM) of the equity shareholders today. Ahead of the meeting, two independent directors Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien, resigned from the board on Monday after the company's two biggest investors, Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC, sought the removal of three directors, including CEO Punit Goenka. The two shareholders have sought to appoint six new independent directors at the 39th annual general meeting (AGM), ZEEL said in a regulatory filing on September 13. The proposed directors are Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, and Gaurav Mehta. The resignation comes after advisory firm IIAS, as per reports, had advised institutional investors to vote against the reappointment of Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani as Independent Directors on the Board of ZEEL in the AGM slated to be held on Tuesday (September 14). On September 13, ZEEL shares settled at Rs 186.85 a unit on the BSE, up 2.10 percent from the previous close. Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for the latest updates:
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The meeting hasconcluded, withGoenka, in his concluding address,responding tomost of the queries raised by the shareholders.
On COVID-19 impact, Goenka further said that the revenue in advertising that decreased in the year (FY21) was largely due to the pandemic.
The exceptional expenditure incurred in Q1 of FY22 was on account of relocation of shoots to alternate locations, he added, noting thatthis will not be significantly higher in the coming quarters.
On content strategy, Goenka said that channels like Zee Anmol had lost market share due to the COVID-19 phase one. "We have already got plans in place to regain market share, and you will start to see these going up in the coming quarters."
On resignation of Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien, Goenka said that the reason of resignation is self explanatory in their resignation letters. "I think we must respect the choice of wanting to spend their time in other things that they are devoted to," he said.
While Chokhani had cited changed circumstances and perspective post COVID, Kurien had reasoned his pre-occupation for the resignation,the firm had said in a regulatory filing on September 13.
On corporate governance, Goenka said, "As the Chairman suggested in his speech, we give strong emphasis on corporate governance. We have examined the matter, and will take necessary steps as applicable in the interest of all shareholders."
On repayment of funds from related parties, Goenka said that there have been no loans given to related parties from the company. "There have been business revenues that we collect from related parties like Siti Cable and Dish TV and other parties and the board monitors these recoveries very closely and the management is engaged with related parties for recovery of our overdues, if any."
Punit Geonka, in response to a shareholder query, said the virtual meetings have cost Rs 25 lakh. "Our total travel and conveyance expenses have come down from Rs 88 crore in financial year 2020 to Rs 63 crore in financial year 2021," he added.
In terms of how many frauds are detected in the case of a whistleblower policy, no fraud is detected in the year, the ZEEL MD and CEO said.
The total spend on the CSR for the year for the company was Rs 50 crore, out of which Rs 33.5 crore was spent for COVID-19, Goenka noted.
Responding to a shareholder query on vaccination drive, Goenka said, "We have done vaccination drives across all our offices across India and international markets. Nearly 83 percent of our employees have taken their first dose and 19 percent have taken both doses."
"The biggest impact of the COVID pandemic was faced on Zee Studios, which is a movie business, due to the closure of malls and theaters across the country. Even certain states are still to open the theaters and malls and that business continues to be impacted," Goenka said.
"What are our learnings from the COVID?I think some of the few learnings that we've had is the importance of continuing shoot operations seamlessly, which were disrupted during the wave one of the, of the pandemic. We also realize how important it is for adoption of technology in business operations. Planning has become even more critical going forward, which is certainly helped us do in Wave Two," Goenka said.
