NDTV Q1 net loss widens to Rs 24 cr

The loss increased due to decline in television advertising revenues

New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) reported net loss of Rs 24.3 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to loss of Rs 1.5 crore in the same quarter last year. The widening of the loss is mainly due to drop in television advertising revenues, which saw a spurt in growth last year due to the general elections.

Consolidated revenue for Q1FY16 stood at Rs 125 crore, down 17.55 per cent from Q1FY15 (Rs 151.6 crore). The company revealed that excluding the revenues specific to the general elections last year, there is no fall in the topline this year. While television revenues saw a drop (Rs 107.8 crore in Q1FY16 versus Rs 135.9 crore last year), digital and e-commerce revenues saw growth by 51 per cent and 32 per cent respectively.

Digital and e-commerce revenues now account for 21 per cent of total group topline (up from 13 per cent in the same period last year) reflecting the ongoing commitment and investments of the NDTV Group into building key digital assets. EBITDA loss stood at Rs 15.3 crore for the quarter, while last year during the same period there was an EBITDA profit of Rs 9.9 crore.

Along with the declaration of the results, NDTV also revealed that in a first round of investor funding it has raised funding at a combined valuation close to $80 million (Rs 510 crore) for its new e-commerce ventures in pertaining to gadgets and autmobiles. The investors include Inflexionpoint (co-founded by John Scully, former Apple CEO), Pramod Bhasin (founder, Genpact), Sixth Sense Ventures (founded by Nikhil Vora), Vindi Banga (former chairman, Unilever), Hiro Mashita (founder and director of M&S Partners) and other HNIs.

This follows the success of NDTV's earlier venture, IndianRoots which raised an additional $5 million (Rs 32 crore) in funding at a valuation of $85 million (Rs 542 crore) from KJS Group. The funds were raised by Avendus Wealth Management.

It also announced the launch for two more e-commerce ventures – Gadgets 360?and Fifth Gear Auto. The former, currently known as NDTV Gadgets, will provide a curated marketplace for exclusive launches of mobile phones and other electronic gadgets while the latter is a new auto portal leveraging on the massive following of NDTVs car and bike programming. The current auto site has proven the credibility of the brand in this space, having become one of the fastest growing auto portals since its launch, a little over a year ago. The venture has raised funds close to a valuation of $30 million (Rs 191 crore).