Eros International Q4 net down 29% at Rs 14 cr

Film production and distribution firm Eros International Media (EIM) today posted a 28.8% decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 13.6 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

This is against a net profit of Rs 19.09 crore during Q4 FY2009-10, Eros said in a statement.

Total income declined 28.9% to Rs 116.49 crore for the reported quarter from Rs 163.74 crore in the same period last financial year.

For financial year 2010-11, the company's net profit was up 42.8% at Rs 117.23 crore as compared to Rs 82.12 crore in FY'10.

Total income for the reported fiscal was up 9.6% to Rs 715.92 crore from Rs 653.5 crore in FY'10.

"Our unique strategy, including de-risking revenue by pre-sales, building a strong movie slate, tapping co-production opportunities and an expanding distribution networks enables us to manage our business in a highly efficient and profitable manner, building sustained growth in value for our stakeholders," EIM Managing Director Sunil Lulla said.

During the year, the company raised Rs 350 crore through an initial public offering and completed the listing of the company.

The company's strategy would focus on expanding further into new and emerging digital distribution channels within India.

"This would include opportunities in DTH, mobile, video-on-demand and internet streaming services to capitalise on the proliferation of the internet and personal entertainment devices," it added.

EIM is bullish on its movie slate for FY'12 and FY'13 comprising big star cast films, which includes titles like Ready, Murder 2, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, RA.One and Agent Vinod.

The Group also has a slate of regional films in Marathi and Punjabi as well as Tamil films through its 51% subsidiary Ayngaran and some smaller scale Hindi releases, it added.

"Eros International aspires to build on its core strengths and be a dominant player in the Indian media and entertainment arena through a combination of organic and inorganic growth over a 3-5 year horizon," it added.