Dish TV reports net loss of Rs 43.6 cr in Q4; margins fall

Moneycontrol Bureau

Dish TV, one of India's leading DTH operators has reduced its losses to Rs 43.62 crore from Rs 49.2 crore, a year ago. Revenues of the company shot up by 9 percent to Rs 571.09 crore compared to Rs 525.8 crore in the same quarter last year.

The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were much lower at Rs 120 crore against Rs 144 crore in the previous fiscal. EBIDTA margins also took beating and were down by 580 basis points from 27.4 percent to 21.6 percent.

ARPUs or average revenue per user was also down to Rs 157 from Rs 160.

Jawahar Goel, managing director of Dish TV told CNBC-TV18, "We expect margins to improve from 21 percent level going forward. The price hike taken in April will support the margins."

"The interest cost has reduced by around 30-35 percent during the fourth quarter," he added.

Dish TV added 0.2 million net subscribers during the quarter and cumulative total net subscribers now stand at 10.7 million.

The subscription revenues for the fourth quarter were also up 15.3 percent at Rs 500 crore. The subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) lowered to Rs 1996 compared to Rs. 2201 in the immediately preceding quarter.

The company's net loss continue to be influenced by depreciation and write-off policy.

At 14:40 hrs, Dish TV was quoting at Rs 64.00, down Rs 3.95, or 5.81 percent.