BENGALURU: The Subhash Chandra-led Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) reported 7.6 percent and 7.4 percent y-o-y growth in total and operating revenues for the quarter ended 30 September 2019 (Q2 2020, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter Q2 2019. Profit after tax grew 6.7 percent y-o-y, while Total comprehensive income (TCI) declined 9.5 percent y-o-y. Operating profit (EBITDA) grew 2.5 percent y-o-y in Q2 2020 as compared to Q2 2019.
Zeel reported total revenues of Rs 2,190.13 crore and Rs 2,034.79 crore for Q2 2020 and Q1 2019 respectively. Operating revenue for the period under review was Rs 2,122.01 crore and Rs 1,975.86 crore respectively. PAT for Q2 2020 was Rs 412.09 crore, while it was Rs 386.10 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter. TCI for Q1 2020 and Q1 2019 were Rs 471.77 crore and 521.43 crore respectively. Simple operating EBITDA for the quarter under review was Rs 692.93 crore (32.65 percent margin) and for Q2 2019 it was 675.72 crore (34.20 percent margin of operating revenue.
Growth in revenue in Q2 2020 was driven by 1.2 percent and 19 percent y-o-y growths in advertisement and subscription revenue respectively. Zeel reported ad revenue of Rs 1,224.66 crore in Q2 2020 and Rs 1,210.60 crore in Q1 2019. The company reported subscription revenue of Rs 723.50 crore in Q2 2020 and Rs 608.16 crore in Q1 2019.
Zeel managing director and CEO Punit Goenka said through an earnings release: “I am pleased with the performance we have exhibited during the quarter. Our entertainment portfolio continues to grow from strength to strength across all formats and maintained its leading position. Our television network has emerged stronger post the implementation of tariff order on the back of a strong customer connect and brand pull of its channels. ZEE5 continued to gain traction across audience segments and markets, driven by its compelling content library and expanding of partnerships across the digital eco-system. This strong operating performance allowed us to deliver industry leading growth in both advertising and subscription despite the tough macro-economic environment. Domestic subscription growth of 27 percent has reaffirmed the value proposition our television network has built over the years. The impact of tariff order has now largely settled down and has brought increased transparency along with improved monetisation. Our domestic advertising revenue growth, though significantly lower than historical trend, is higher than the industry growth. We have witnessed an improvement in ad spends through the quarter and we believe that the onset of festive season along with measures taken by the government will help revive the consumption growth."
Let us look at the other numbers reported by Zeel
Total Expenditure for Q2 2020 grew 9.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,514.13 crore from Rs 1,386.45 crore in Q2 2019. Operating costs in Q2 2020 grew 23.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 896.25 crore from Rs 726.34 crore. Other expenses during the quarter under review declined 18.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 195.31 crore from Rs 240.03 crore. Employee benefits expense in Q2 2020 grew 25.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 212.26 crore from Rs 168.72 crore. Ad and publicity expensed in Q2 2020 declined 24.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 125.26 crore from Rs 165.05 crore finance costs in Q2 2020 more than tripled (3.3 times) y-o-y in Q2 2020 to Rs 17.97 crore from Rs 5.45 crore.
