Dish TV reports Rs 1.2 bn PAT in Q4FY18, operating revenue at Rs 15.32 bn

Direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV India reported subscription revenues of Rs 13.77 billion and operating revenues of Rs 15.32 billion for the quarter ended March 31 (Q4FY18). Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 4.61 billion and adjusted EBITDA margin was recorded at 30.1 per cent. PAT for the quarter stood at Rs 1.18 billion.

On March 22, 2018, Videocon d2h Limited had merged with and into Dish TV India Limited with the appointed date of the merger being October 1, 2017. Financials of Dish TV India Limited for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 thus represent 3 months financial performance each of Dish TV India Limited and Videocon d2h limited. Similarly, financials of Dish TV India Limited for the year ended March 31, 2018 represent 12 months financial performance of Dish TV India Limited and 6 months financial performance of Videocon d2h Limited.

Financial numbers for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2018 are thus not comparable with the corresponding periods last year.

For fiscal 2017-18, the company’s subscription revenue stood at Rs 42.17 billion, operating revenue at Rs 46.34 billion, EBITDA at Rs 13.169 billion and net loss stood at Rs 849 million. However, presuming that the financials for fiscal 2018 had represented 12 months each of Dish TV India Limited and Videocon d2h Limited, operating revenues of the company would have been Rs 62.37 billion and corresponding adjusted EBITDA for the year would have been Rs 19.69 billion with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 31.6 per cent. 

Jawahar Goel, CMD, Dish TV India Limited, said, “There is significant growth potential both in the short and the long-term when it comes to acquiring new subscribers. While in the short-term, digitisation will continue to feed subscriber additions, government schemes focused on bridging the urban/rural divide, increasing farm incomes and electricity connection to rural households will create demand for new televisions and pay-tv connections in the years to come.”

The combined entity now commands a market share of 37 per cent with a pan India presence through three brands- Dish TV, d2h and Zing. 

The company expects to outgrow the industry growth rate in FY19 backed by launch of new set-top-boxes that would be full HD compliant yet would be more economical than the existing consumer premises equipment. The company plans to up its High Definition base so as to ramp up its ARPU in the coming years.

Anil Dua, Group CEO, Dish TV India Limited, said, “Revenue would be further fortified through Value Added Services, some of which have already been cross rolled-out on all three brands. With demonetization, poor rural demand and merger related distractions behind us, we are confident of a sharp turnaround in our operating and financial performance in this fiscal.”