Mumbai: Subhash Chandra’s use of the axe at Zee Entertainment Enterprises seems to be yielding results. The goateed entrepreneur has taken charge over the past six months and has been focusing on reducing costs and getting Zee ship into shipshape. This is showing up in the first quarter 2025 accounts released earlier today.

EBITDA margins at 12.8 per cent; year on year increased by 500bps, aided by effective cost management and lower interests costs and rise in other income (Rs 19 crore vs Rs 14.5 crore). Net profit during the quarter was at Rs 118.1 crore which is a 784.16 per cent increase quarter on quarter.

Overall Q1 FY25 revenue rose to Rs 2130.5 crore (as against Rs 1983.8 crores in previous year’s corresponding quarter.

Thanks to the surfeit of cricket and elections, the network share fell from 16.8 per cent to 16.4 per cent in the latest quarter. In keeping with the drop, domestic advertising fell 3.6 per cent at Rs 911.3 crore (Rs 940.9 crore), even as subscription revenue rose to Rs 987.2 crore (Rs 907.5 crore). International advertising revenue was at Rs 424 crore whereas subscription revenue was at Rs 102.4 crore. Its domestic weekly impressions grew from 28.5 billion to 28.7 billion.

The company in its earnings release has stated that it expects its margins to improve through the rest of the year even as it keeps a tight eye on costs. It however has cautioned that the amount margins improve will depend on how ad revenue picks up in the second half.

On the digital front, its streaming platform Zee5's revenue increased 15.3 percent to Rs 223.7 crore in Q1 from Rs 193.9 crore in the year-ago period.

The Zee share price is quoted around the Rs 151 mark at the time of writing.