Sun TV Q1 net up 10%, ad growth slows

[Bapun]

MUMBAI: The slowdown seems to be catching up on India's largest regional broadcaster Sun TV Network as its operating income grew just 3.07 per cent for the fiscal first-quarter. A strong 25 per cent jump in subscription revenue from DTH to Rs 840 million was somewhat offset by muted advertising growth. Sun TV Network's ad revenue rose to Rs 2.31 billion for the three-month period ended June 2011, just four per cent up from the year-ago period. "The first-quarter of the earlier fiscal had seen a 50 per cent jump in ad revenue over the earlier year. So the base was pretty high. Though there is some slowdown, Sun could be looking at a 15 per cent ad growth this fiscal. The rate hike in April will push the ad revenue gradually up," said a media analyst. The company's net profit stood at Rs 1.88 billion, up 10 per cent from Rs 1.71 billion in the earlier year. Sun TV, which operates 20 channels across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and has 43 FM radio stations running across India, saw its revenue rise to Rs 4.54 billion from Rs 4.40 billion a year ago. Subscription revenue from cable in the quarter stayed almost flat at Rs 560 million. While broadcast fees contributed to Rs 390 million, international subscription made Rs 200 million and movies and others Rs 240 million. Sun TV’s Ebitda (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the quarter was 81 per cent at Rs 3.66 billion, up from Rs 3.60 billion a year ago. Shares of Sun TV closed Monday at Rs 309.75 on the BSE, down 3.68 per cent from the previous day's close.


Indiantelevision.com

 

[Karthik]

sundirect will speed up the channel addition or other wise they will loose customers.