TV18 Broadcast operating profit at Rs 210 cr, up 87% in FY14

TV18 Broadcast Ltd posted a net profit of Rs 35.9 crore in January-March as against Rs 17. 3 crore a year ago, up 107 percent. The company said its revenue rose 19 percent on year to Rs 563.3 crore from Rs 474.7 crore. Operating profit, meanwhile, stood at Rs 69.7 crore as against Rs 34.6 crore a year ago.  Overall expenses during the quarter were at Rs 513.76 crore, an increase of 13.92 per cent from Rs 450.97 crore in the same quarter last year. The company noted that ETV News numbers have been consolidated in the fourth quarter results. In a press release, the company said that its margins across all television operations witnessed improvement. Business news operations sustained healthy operating margins of more than 30 percent. The company’s operating profits (EBITDA) for the full year increased to Rs 210.5 crore from Rs 112.1 crore in the previous year. The company posted its highest ever post-tax profits at Rs 103.6 crores in FY14 compared to a loss of Rs 25.5 crores in the previous year. Operating profit for the general news (CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN Lokmat) for the full year grew to Rs 22 crores from Rs 3.2 crores last year. Entertainment television operations at Viacom18 witnessed an improvement in margins from 6 percent last year to 15 percent this year. The company’s net distribution income continued its steady climb to Rs 178 crores in FY14 from Rs 15.7 crores last year. “All our businesses contributed positively to achieve our highest ever post-tax profits of Rs. 103.6 crores, despite the continued uncertainty in the macro-economic environment. We are confident of sustaining our growth trajectory, as we continue to extract value from our existing operations as well as profitably grow our newer initiatives,” Raghav Bahl, managing director, Network18 said in a press release. “We are extremely pleased that all our broadcast operations continued to deliver their margins despite softness in the advertising environment…. We are focused on delivering a strong performance in the coming year, as we look forward to an improving media landscape,” B Saikumar, Group CEO, Network18 said in the press release. Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Netwrok18 group which owns TV18 Broadcast