Airtel Digital TV Q2 ARPU at Rs 224, subscriber addition slows down, EBITDA down 2.7%

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MUMBAI: Airtel Digital TV, the direct-to-home (DTH) arm of telecom operator Bharti Airtel, has seen a slowdown in subscriber additions, a minor dip in operating profit (quarter-on-quarter) and an increase in churn in the second quarter of the fiscal. On the positive side, the DTH business has remained EBIT-positive for the third straight quarter and has touched a new ARPU (average revenue per user) high of Rs 224 in the quarter ended 30 September 2015.



In the trailing quarter, ARPU stood at Rs 222. According to the company, adjusting for the impact of change in accounting for indirect taxes, the underlying ARPU improvement since corresponding quarter last year is Rs 22. Meanwhile, the pace of strong subscriber additions achieved in the last three quarters slowed down in Q2. The company added 164,000 subscribers in the quarter ended 30 September 2015, compared to 339,000 in the trailing quarter. In the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, it had added 151,000 net subscribers. The company’s total net subscriber base now stands at 10.576 million.



Rival Videocon d2h had added 200,000 net subscribers in the quarter, taking its net subscriber base to 10.84 million. In the June quarter, it added 460,000 net subscribers. One problem area for Airtel Digital TV could be the increasing churn. The company’s monthly churn has increased to 1.3 per cent per month, from 0.8 per cent in the preceding quarter. In the year-ago period, churn was at 1.1 per cent. Financial performance EBITDA for the quarter under review saw a 2.7 per cent drop to Rs 234.3 crore (Rs 2.34 billion), from Rs 240.8 crore (Rs 2.41 billion) in the trailing quarter. In the year-ago period, EBITDA stood at Rs 152.9 crore (Rs 1.53 billion).



EBIDTA margin, meanwhile, dropped to 33.1 per cent, compared to 35.2 per cent in the first quarter of the fiscal. In the year-ago period, it stood at 24.4 per cent. The company also reported EBIT of Rs 17 crore (Rs 170 million) in the current quarter, down from Rs 41.5 crore (Rs 415 million) in Q1FY16. In Q2FY15, EBIT loss stood at Rs 67.7 crore (Rs 677 million). Revenue saw a modest 3.2 per cent growth sequentially. The company’s total revenue was at Rs 706.8 crore (Rs 7.07 billion), compared to 684.8 crore (Rs 6.85 billion) in the trailing quarter. In the year-ago period, it had made revenue of Rs 626.3 crore (Rs 6.26 billion). Revenue from digital TV services accounted for 4 per cent of Bharti Airtel’s total revenue while EBITDA contribution stood at 3 per cent. During the quarter, the company incurred capital expenditure of Rs 250.1 crore (Rs 2.50 billion). Capex stood at Rs 211.3 crore (Rs 2.11 billion) in the trailing quarter and at Rs 225.5 crore (Rs 2.22 billion) in the year-ago period. After three quarters of operating free cash flow, the company has recorded a cash burn of Rs 15.8 crore (Rs 158 million) during the second quarter. In the trailing quarter, operating free cash flow was at Rs 29.5 crore (Rs 295 million). In the year-ago period, cash burn was at Rs 72.6 crore (Rs 726 million). As of 30 September 2015, the company’s cumulative investment in the DTH business touched Rs 5,865.3 crore (Rs 58.65 billion). Airtel Digital TV offers 475 channels including 33 HD channels, four international channels and four interactive services across 639 districts in India.

http://www.televisionpost.com/dth/a...iber-addition-slows-down-ebitda-down-2-7-qoq/
 
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