Zee Entertainment posts Q4 net loss at Rs 766 cr on higher operating costs

Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) on Saturday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 765.82 crore for the January-March quarter of FY 2019-20.

The company had logged a net profit of Rs 292.53 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago, it said in a BSE filing.

Total income was down 4.06 per cent to Rs 1,991.74 crore during the said quarter as against Rs 2,076.06 crore a year ago.

It made a provision of Rs 113.70 crore as an impairment charge of the recoverable amount of goodwill allocated to the online media business which represents a separate cash-generating unit (CGU), the filing said.

"The excess of carrying value of CGU over the recoverable amount had been accounted as an impairment charge of Rs 113.70 crore in the quarter and year ended March 31, 2020 and disclosed as exceptional item," ZEEL said.

During the March 2020 quarter, its operational cost went up by 47.69 per cent to Rs 1,304.62 crore as against Rs 883.32 crore.

"Underlying cost increase led by higher movie amortisation, new channels and investments in ZEE5. The reported operating cost includes one time accelerated amortisation of inventory of Rs 259.8 crore," said ZEEL in the earning statement.

The result also includes a one-time provision of Rs 343.3 crore in the administrative cost "for balances related to ad, subscription and other assets where recovery has become doubtful on account of Covid-19 led uncertainty," it said.

Total expenses were up 66.05 per cent at Rs 2,677.77 crore in Q4/FY 2019-20 as against Rs 1,612.60 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Revenue from advertisement was down 14.66 per cent at Rs 1,038.94 crore during the quarter as against Rs 1,217.49 crore in January-March quarter a year ago.

"Poor macroeconomic environment, conversion of two FTA channels into pay in March 2019, and market share loss in certain markets drove the decline. Lockdown in March further impacted revenues, said ZEEL.

While its subscription revenue was up 31.15 per cent at Rs 741.36 crore as against Rs 565.27 crore.

It logged a growth of 41 per cent in subscription revenue in its domestic business, driven by implementation of new tariff order (NTO) and growth in ZEE5 subscription revenues.

For the fiscal year 2019-20, ZEEL saw net profit decline 66.52 per cent to Rs 524.59 crore, from Rs 1,567.24 crore in the previous year.

Total income for the fiscal, however, rose to Rs 8,413.50 crore from Rs 8,185.35 crore in 2018-19.