Eros Int'l Media hopes to achieve analyst FY12 consensus

During the second quarter FY12, Eros International Media's revenue was down 6.3% to Rs 174.8 crore versus Rs 186.62 crore (YoY) and the profit after tax (PAT) was down 41.5% to Rs 26.67 crore versus Rs 45.6 crore (YoY).

Kamal Jain, group chief financial officer (India) of the company indicated that it would continue to maintain a good cash positions going forward. He also mentioned that some big films will be released in the third quarter.
He further stated that the company is inline with analyst consensus for FY12 and hopes to achieve that going forward. Here is the edited transcript of his interview to CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: In Q2, you have seen a decline of about 6% in your revenues. Are you still on track? Last time, you indicated that FY12 sales growth would be about 30%. Given the sluggish Q2, are you still confident of meeting that guidance?
A: We are very happy to deliver the set of results for Q2 and H1FY12. This was more to do with the robustness of our business model. This is our consistent result.
If we compare with Q2FY11, it would be because of the unfavourable environment last year because last year at this point of time, we had catalogue monetisation and good sales. This particular quarter is not favourable in terms of comparison.
Our numbers have to be looked into an annualised basis rather than the quarterly basis. On independent basis, first and second quarter, and H1, we have delivered good performance.
I am happy with the performance and it is in line with our expectations. As far as analyst consensus for FY12 is concerned, we are absolutely in line with that. We hope to achieve the consensus around FY12.
As far as Q2 is concerned, we have released almost 42 films in this particular quarter. We do more than 75 films a year and we have a good catalogue monetisation strategy.
Owing to that, we have a good business model. Consistently, in H1, out of top five blockbusters, three belong to Eros. This is a consistent performance. The films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Murder 2 and Mausam have delivered good numbers for this particular quarter.
In Q3, Ra-One has already done well. It has really performed well in terms of breaking many records on box office, including the day and weekend record. Till now, it has done more than Rs 221 crore gross worldwide. It has also one of the records in terms of the number of days as far as the collection is concerned.
Apart from that, Rockstar is also doing well. Rockstar has done about Rs 64 crore gross in first weekend, which is also a good achievement as far as the film is concerned. This is the seventh largest opening. Q: What kind of debt do you have on your books? You have been significantly reducing your debt over the past one year. Can we expect that going forward too?
A: We do have a very strong balance sheet. We are paying off our debt through internal accruals. The net debt position for this particular quarter is quite minimal at about Rs 50 crore. We have big films releasing in Q3.
The debt position is nearly a zero debt position for the company. We would continue to maintain a good cash positions going forward also too.