NDTV post Q4 profit Rs 5 cr against Rs 1 cr loss a year ago

Despite fall in revenue, cost cutting kept costs in check, leading to profitability at group level

The New Delhi Television (NDTV) group net profit of Rs 5 crore for the fourth quarter of FY17 as compared to a loss of Rs one crore in the same quarter previous year.

While revenue for the quarter saw a decline from Rs 193 crore in Q4FY16 to Rs 161 crore in Q4FY17, costs have gone down significantly by 17 per cent from Rs 164 crore in same quarter previous year to Rs 137 crore in the current quarter, due to what the group calls 'strategic initiatives'.

As a result, ebitda increased by Rs 15.4 crore from Rs 8.3 crore in same quarter previous year to Rs 23.7 crore in the quarter under consideration.

For the full fiscal FY17 however, the group continued to post net loss at Rs 68.7 crore, marginally higher than the FY16 net loss of Rs 64.8 crore.

Revenue for the fiscal also saw a dip from Rs 577.1 crore to Rs 535.2 crore. The second half of the fiscal was heavily impacted by demonetisation when many advertisers pulled back on ad spends.

However, elections in Bihar, Haryana, and Punjab helped balance the impact of demonetisation to an extent.