Advertising & Media company Network18 Media & Investments Limited declares Q3FY22 result: Network18 reported its highest ever EBITDA at Rs. 373cr with margins of 22.5%; Not only did News business (TV and Digital) see a sharp improvement in profitability but Entertainment business also continued to deliver strong margins Strong revenue growth momentum continued during the quarter as the Company reported its highest ever quarterly revenue of Rs. 1,657cr (+16.5% YoY), despite the pandemic induced headwinds faced by the Movie business Colors was the #2 channel in the Hindi genre; Voot continued to see growth in paid subscriber base driven by impact properties Network18’s digital news/information portfolio was #2 in India, reaching 50%+ of internet audience Mr. Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18, said: “We are building a strong and sustainable media franchise which not only delivers quality content to Indian audience but also value to the shareholders. Over the last few years, we have taken several significant steps which have helped us achieve the turn around on profitability front and it is really encouraging to see the business now consistently deliver healthy margins, especially the digital news business which has been growing in a profitable manner. As we have seen over the last several years, content consumption is an integral part of consumers’ lives and there is willingness to spend more time and money, provided they get access to quality content at an affordable price. Also, consumers are increasingly becoming platform agnostic, with both TV and Digital growing simultaneously. Our endeavor is to cater to all consumers looking for news and entertainment content in their local languages, movies and leading sports events, on platforms of their choice." Result PDF
Highlights: Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter grew 53%YoY (~3.3x of Q2FY20), operating margin at 18.2%. Both News and Entertainment businesses further improved profitability. Strong revenue growth driven by viewership; Highest ever Q2 revenue (ex-film), grew 29% YoY (and 21% vs Q2FY20) Viacom18 is building a strong sports portfolio; acquired rights to FIFA World Cup’22 and 3 major football leagues Voot’s digital exclusive property, Bigg Boss OTT, drives substantial growth in paid subscriber base 18.2% operating margin despite a lingering impact of second wave. Entertainment margin at ~19%; ex-film revenue up 31% YoY (up 20% vs Q2FY20) News margin at ~18%; revenue up 18% YoY (15% vs Q2FY20) Digital News continues to grow revenue and improve margins; revenue rose 55% YoY and margins at ~17%. PAT rose to Rs. ~200 Cr (~3x of Q2FY21), driven by improved revenue performance, controlled opex and lower finance costs. Mr. Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of Network18, said: “This quarter has been quite remarkable, both from a macro as well as Company’s point of view. The way the country came out of the grip of second wave of COVID was truly heartening, and equally reassuring was the full-swing return of economic growth. The outlook is looking quite promising from a medium term perspective and this is good news for all our consumer facing businesses. Our digital assets, both news and entertainment, got a lift during the pandemic and we continue to invest to leverage those gains. With expansion into sports genre, we have taken a significant step towards scaling up our entertainment portfolio to the next level. This will help establish us as a truly integrated media company across broadcast, OTT and content studio business spanning general entertainment, news, movies and sports.” Result PDF