TV18 delivers record Q3 profits, EBITDA up 61%, net up 177%

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TV18 Broadcast Monday announced its results for the quarter ended December 31, 2013. The company reported its highest ever quarterly operating profit (EBITDA) at Rs. 77.5 crores (up 61 percent year-on-year) with both the Entertainment and News businesses turning in strong quarters. Quarterly profit before tax rose 168 percent y-o-y to Rs 54.3 crore, and quarterly net profit rose 177 percent to Rs 51.2 crore. Proforma EBITDA from broadcast operations crossed Rs. 100 crore.Following are the highlights of the quarterly performance:* Reported revenues on a consolidated basis stood at Rs. 525.5 crores for the quarter, up 3 percent over prior year. The company reported its highest ever quarterly Operating Profit (EBITDA) at Rs. 77.5 crores (up 61 percent y-o-y) with both the Entertainment and News businesses turning in strong quarters.* On a consolidated basis, advertising revenues grew 3 percent year on year. While the News and Infotainment advertising environment continues to be sluggish, Entertainment led by Colors and MTV delivered strong double digit advertising growth. Net distribution Income (NDI) continued its steady growth at Rs.43.6 crores, a growth of 145 percent year on year.*TV18's Broadcast operations turned in a very strong quarter with an operating profit of Rs. 91.1 crores, up 110 percent on a year over year basis.Proforma Q3 FY13-14 Financial Highlights:* Proforma results are assuming financial consolidation of ETV News (100 percent) and ETV Entertainment (50 percent). On 22 Jan 2014, post receipt of required regulatory approvals, TV18 completed the acquisition of the ETV channels – 100 percent of ETV News, 50 percent of ETV Entertainment and 24.5 percent of ETV Telugu.* Proforma reported revenues on a consolidated basis stood at Rs. 595.9 crores for the quarter, up 5 percent over prior year. Proforma Operating Profit (EBITDA) came in at Rs. 94.5 crores (up 79 percent y-o-y) led by a strong performance in ETV News.*On a proforma basis, this was a landmark quarter for TV18 with Broadcast operations turning in an EBITDA of Rs. 108.1 crores. ETV Entertainment reported a sharp reduction in losses compared to the previous two quarters as programming and marketing investments made in the first half led to an upswing in ratings and revenues.Announcing the results, Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18 said: “We are greatly enthused by the strong performance of TV18 despite the continued uncertainty in the macro-economic landscape. While environmental risks may continue in the medium term, we are confident of maintaining our growth trajectory. During the quarter, our pre-tax profits almost tripled due to the robust operating performance of our broadcast operations and a significantly deleveraged balance sheet. We are now in the sustained value creation phase of our journey even as we look to further strengthen our existing operations and consolidate our regional acquisition”.Commenting on the results for the quarter, B. Saikumar, Group CEO, Network18 said: “It has been a stellar quarter for our broadcast operations, which grew their margins substantially in a challenging environment. Our News business realised value from operating efficiencies. Our Entertainment operations at Viacom18, led by Colors delivered a healthy performance even as Motion Pictures saw losses in this quarter. Infotainment operations at A+E Networks I TV18 broke into positive territory and IndiaCast continued on its robust growth trajectory. We look forward to building on network synergies with the launches of Rishtey India, MTV Indies and CNBC Bajar, while sustaining our trajectory of profitable growth in the year ahead.”Net Distribution IncomeFor the third quarter of FY14, Net Distribution Income stood at Rs. 43.6 crores.  Effective 1st July 2012, IndiaCast is now managing TV18’s and Viacom18’s distribution operations. Pursuant to this development, Broadcast operations of TV18 are now reporting net revenues from distribution starting Q2 FY13. Net Distribution Income may be understood as subscription revenues earned by the company minus carriage/placement fees or any promotions/commission paid. Please note that the Net Distribution Income differs from the Subscription Revenues in our consolidated numbers because a few of our entities are still in negative territory and hence, net expenses on account of carriage form a part of the marketing and distribution expenses.Business News Operations - CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD*Operating profit for the current quarter stood at Rs. 33.5 crores with an operating margin of 41%. Operating Revenues for the current quarter stood at Rs. 80.7 crores.*CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz sustained their strong market leadership in the genre during the quarterGeneral News Operations - CNN-IBN, IBN7, IBN-Lokmat*General news operations returned to healthy profitability in the current quarter over last quarter and grew margins substantially over last year. Operating profit stood at Rs. 15 crores with an operating margin of 22%. Operating revenues stood at Rs.66.9 crores.*CNN-IBN and IBN7 continued their strong viewership performance reaching a combined monthly average of 27 million viewers in the quarter (Source: TAM, CS AB 15+, All India, all days, 24 hrs, 1st Oct to 28th Dec'13). The IBN Network was a leader in coverage during the state assembly elections in the quarter.Infotainment - HistoryTV18* History TV18 continued towards a profitable trajectory in the current quarter, despite softness in the advertising environment. Operating profit for the current quarter stood at Rs. 2.1 crores with revenues at Rs.7.1 crores.* HistoryTV18 sustained its impressive performance in viewership this quarter with a 22% market share and the highest time spent per viewer (Source: TAM, CS AB 15+Yrs, all India, Wk 49-52’13, all days, 0600-2400 hrs, market share and average weekly time spent per viewer in mins basis sum of 30 min TVTs)Entertainment Operations – Viacom18*Q3 FY14 revenues for Viacom18 stood at Rs.557.6 crores and operating profits stood at Rs. 56 crores, an increase of 84% year on year.*Operating profits from our television business stood at Rs. 82.9 crores and grew by 297% over previous year. The growth was driven by both strong advertising and distribution revenues.* Colors emerged as a strong No. 2 in the current quarter, growing its average weekly gross viewership to 464 million. Colors was the No.1 channel during weekends with an average market share of 26%. It continued to lead the genre in terms of content innovation and differentiated programming. ‘24’, the marquee non-fiction property made a stupendous debut during the quarter and attracted 117 million viewers across India. ‘Big Boss 7’ delivered 164 million viewers and achieved the highest-ever season average in viewership. ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ continued its run as the No.1 non-fiction show in the genre. (Source: TAM, CS4+, HSM, All Days, Q3).* MTV continued its leadership in viewership in the genre reaching 52 million viewers and further cemented its position as India’s No.1 youth brand in digital engagement with over 20 million fans on Facebook and 1 million followers on Twitter. The Nick franchise and English entertainment channels - Vh1 and Comedy Central delivered strong growth in their viewership performance and consumer engagement.* Viacom18 Motion Pictures had two Hindi releases – ‘Boss’ and ‘What the Fish’ during the quarter in addition to ‘Bha Ji in Problem’ which was a Punjabi release.ETV News & Entertainment*Q3 FY14 revenues for ETV News grew by 40% to Rs.36.9 crores and operating profits grew by 200% to Rs. 20 crores. The news channels sustained their strong viewership performance, strongly aided by the state assembly elections.* ETV Entertainment sharply reduced its losses from Rs.35 crores in Q2 FY14 to Rs.6 crores in Q3 FY14. ETV Kannada and ETV Marathi saw a sharp improvement in their viewership performance from the last two quarters.

Disclaimer: Moneycontrol.com is part of the Network 18 Group, which owns TV18.

For full details of the Q3 performance, click on attachment.

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