MUMBAI: The news business of TV18 is continuing to show positive momentum. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 78 million for the quarter ended 30 September compared to a net loss (performa basis) of Rs 170 million in the year-ago period.

TV18 said that the numbers for the previous year and quarters are for IBN18 standalone before implementation of the 'Scheme of Arrangement' and hence not comparable.

The net profit from the news business stood at Rs 230 million for the trailing quarter.

Operating revenue in Q2 jumped to Rs 1.44 billion from Rs 520 million.Expenditure, however, also doubled to Rs 1.27 billion, as against Rs 590 million that the company incurred in the earlier year.

TV18's news business consists of CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and two IBN18 news channels – CNN IBN and IBN7.

Operating profit of the company stood at Rs 170 million, compared to an operating loss of Rs 70 million a year ago. This, however, included pre-operative losses of Rs 57 million on account of AETN18.

TV18 also reported the business news (CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz) and general news (CNN IBN and IBN7) numbers separately.

In general news, revenue for the fiscal second-quarter stood at Rs 722 million (up from Rs 530 million). However, the company incurred operating loss of Rs 7 million from the segment. TV18 also said that national news operations have achieved break-even and loss is coming from regional news operations.

In the business news segment, revenue stood at Rs 737 million (from Rs 680 million), while operating profit fell to Rs 163 million, from Rs 210 million a year ago.

TV18 has a net debt of Rs 6.84 billion as of 30 September.