BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla led Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported a 31.7 per cent YoY drop in consolidated Total Income from operations (TIO) at Rs 335.35 crore in the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter). The company had reported TIO of Rs 490.73 crore in the corresponding prior year quarter. Operating revenue in the current quarter declined 33.6 per cent as compared to Rs 504.91 crore in the immediate trailing quarter (quarter on quarter or QoQ).
Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
All numbers in this are consolidated unless stated otherwise.
Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined to almost a third (down 65.5 per cent) year on year (YoY) to Rs 37.77 crore (11.3 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 109.34 crore (22.3 per cent margin) and fell 58.2 per cent as compared to to Rs 90.30 crore (17.9 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.
The company says its revenues vary quarter on quarter based on release slate. In Q3-2016, there was only one high budget film compared to three high budget films in Q3-2015 with only partial revenues of Bajirao Mastani.
In Q3-2016, Eros says that one high budget, four medium and 10 low budget films were released as against three high budget, one medium and eight low budget movies in Q3-2015. During the quarter, 15 movies were released consisting of seven Hindi and five Tamil/Telugu films and three Regional film as compared to 12 films during Q3-2015, which included eight Hindi and four Tamil/Telugu films.
Eros further informs that apart from the new release slate, a significant part of its revenue is contributed by monetisation of its valuable film library, and generally has a second half skew. Since catalogues revenues have longer payment cycles associated with them the company has decided to defer sales for couple of quarters until its receivables position normalises.
Receivables
As on 31 December, 2015, Eros says that its total receivables stood at Rs 6,358 million as compared to Rs 6,300 million as on 30 September, 2015. Receivables not due as of 31 December, 2015 was Rs 339.3 crore as compared to Rs 389.9 crore as on 30 September, 2015. Receivables over 365 days old were Rs 38.8 crore as of 31 December, 2015.
Between 1 January, 2016 to 7 February, 2016, the company has seen a further collection of Rs 52.5 crore of receivables of the period up to 31 December, 2015. The company says that it remains confident to bring the overall receivables down to Rs 525 crore by the end of FY-2016.
Company speak
Eros executive vice chairman and managing director Sunil Lulla said, “I am pleased to announce yet another profitable quarter from Eros International driven by the blockbuster success of Bajirao Mastani and a string of regional releases. Our results for the nine months ended December 2015 reflect the strong performance of our film slate with total domination of the box office charts withBajrangi Bhaijaan, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Welcome Back, etc.; and strong television, ancillary and overseas revenues to complement the box office. We are very proud that our films have been dominating the Bollywood awards declared for CY2015. We continue to pride our green-lighting process and build on our portfolio strategy of films across varied budgets and languages backed by strong pre-sales to de-risk the business model.
“We are upbeat about our film slate for FY-2017, which includes a string of high-octane releases such as R. Balki’s Ki & Ka, the hit franchise comedy Housefull 3, the highly anticipated rock musical franchise Rock On 2, the action drama, Shivaay and a host of regional releases amongst others,” continued Lulla.
“We firmly believe that the company has a conservative capital structure and a well-funded balance sheet and we are proud to bring down our Net Debt/Equity ratio to just 0.11 with a free cash flow of Rs 1,320 million in the 9M FY2016. I am confident that with our clear strategic focus, differentiated revenue streams and regional strategy execution, we will continue to deliver solid results in the future and we thank all our shareholders and associates for their continued support,” added Lulla.
Eros International Plc Group CEO Jyoti Deshpande added, “Calendar year 2015 has been nothing short of brilliant for Eros International operationally with a higher than average box office success of our entire film slate along with critical acclaim and awards to go with it. This year also marked the beginning of the monetisation of the 30 million plus registered users of Eros now our OTT platform and our foray into what could be potentially ground breaking Indo - China co-productions. We continue to support Eros International Media in every possible way with our strong balance sheet and are thrilled that Eros International Media has achieved a free cash flow (FCF) of Rs 1,320 million in the 9M-2016. We look forward to announcing Q3 results of Eros International Plc later in February with a further update on other related matters. once again we thank our shareholders, business associates, the Indian film industry and other partners who have helped us strengthen our resolve even in tough times.”
Revenue breakup: Eros breakup of revenue for 9M-2016 (nine month period ended 31 December, 2015): Theatrical Revenue – 44.2 per cent; Overseas Revenue – 29.3 per cent; Television and others 26.5 per cent.
Total Expenditure in the current quarter declined 21.6 per cent YoY to Rs 270.59 crore (80.7 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 345.34 crore (70.4 per cent of TIO) and declined 27.1 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 370.97 crore (73.5 per cent of TIO).
The company’s EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) declined 53.9 per cent YoY to Rs 67.65 crore (20.2 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 146.63 crore (29.9 per cent margin) and declined 51.3 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 139.01 crore (27.5 per cent margin).
Employee Benefits Expense (EBE) in the current quarter increased 47.2 per cent YoY to Rs 14.12 crore (4.2 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 9.59 crore (two per cent of TIO), but declined 1.2 per cent QoQ from Rs 14.29 crore (2.8 per cent of TIO).
