Zee Entertainment Q2 profit jumps as sales rise, margins expand

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, which has recently been in the news owing to a controversy around its proposed acquisition by Sony India, on Thursday reported a 187% increase in its profit after tax for the second quarter. 

The company clocked a net profit of Rs 270.2 crore for the July-September period compared with Rs 94 crore in the second quarter of last fiscal year.

The bottom line was boosted also by a lower one-time expense of Rs 140 crore during the second quarter compared with Rs 971 crore a year earlier. Profit before exceptional items rose 41% to Rs 373 crore from Rs 264.5 crore. The exceptional item related to the sale of its digital publishing business to Rapidcube Technologies Pvt. Ltd last year.

The company’s overall operating revenue for the second quarter came in at Rs 1,978.8 crore, up 14.9% from the previous year’s figure of Rs 1,722.7 crore. 

Its earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew from Rs 313.6 crore in the second quarter of 2020 to Rs 412.1 core. Its EBITDA margins also rose from 18.2% to 20.8%. 

Zee, like most other media houses, was reeling under the impact of the recession in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic last year. However, its fortunes turned around for the better as the economy reopened. 

Zee Entertainment Q2: Other highlights

1) Domestic advertising revenue grew 20.1% year-on-year and 18.9% on a quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 48.7 crore.

2) Revenues from subscription were down 1.5% on a year-on-year basis to Rs 87.8 crore. 

3) Revenue from other sales and services for the quarter came in at Rs 13.5 crore.

4) Programming and marketing costs jumped because of new launches investments on its online platform ZEE5.

5) Zee Entertainment released 13 original movies and TV shows during the quarter.

Zee Entertainment management commentary 

The company said its business had been negatively impacted due to the economic downturn caused as a result of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Therefore, the results for the second quarter of this financial year are “not strictly comparable” to those of the same period last year, it added. 

Zee also said that owing to the pandemic it incurred additional costs of Rs 3.64 crore during the second quarter and Rs 30.7 crore for the half year ended September 30.