Reliance Mediaworks posts Rs 219 cr loss in Jan-Mar qtr

Net sales for the quarter stood at Rs 140.54 crore against Rs 173.41 crore in the year-ago period

Reliance Mediaworks today reported consolidated net loss of Rs 219.19 crore for the quarter ended March 31. Also, its plans to raise Rs 605 crore from a private equity fund have been delayed.

The company had posted net loss of Rs 154.14 crore in the same quarter in the previous fiscal, Reliance Mediaworks said in a filing to the BSE.

Net sales for the quarter stood at Rs 140.54 crore, as against Rs 173.41 crore in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, finance cost increased to Rs 71.99 crore as compared to Rs 58.31 crore in the same period previous fiscal, it said.

Reliance Mediaworks further said its non-binding term sheet signed with a private equity firm for selling a "substantial minority stake" for Rs 605 crore has been extended up to June 30, 2013.

Last year, the company had announced that it had agreed to raise the fund from an undisclosed foreign PE firm for which an indicative non-binding term sheet was signed. The investment was proposed to be made into an arm of the firm into which the film and media service business were proposed to be transferred.

"No definitive agreement has been executed in respect of the proposed transaction. The exclusivity period as per non-binding term sheet expired on October 15, 2012. However, the company and the fund have extended the exclusivity period in the current quarter up to June 30, 2013," Reliance Mediaworks said.

The company scrip was trading at Rs 56.45 on the BSE in the afternoon trade, down 7.23% from the previous close.