Zee net up 12% at Rs 111 crore

Riding on a small growth in its subscription revenue, coupled with a 15 per cent decline in operating costs, Subhash Chandra’s broadcasting arm, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), the owner of Zee TV and other television channels, has posted a 12 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 110.9 crore for the financial year’s second quarter, ended September 30, compared to the same period last year.

However, the consolidated revenue of ZEEL saw a 5 per cent drop to Rs 540.5 crore compared to the same quarter last year, while there was a 13 per cent decline in advertising revenue to Rs 247 crore compared to the same quarter a year ago.

The ZEEL financials include consolidated numbers of its unlisted group companies, Taj TV Ltd, ETC Networks Ltd and Zee Turner Ltd.

There was a 8 per cent growth in the subscription revenues of ZEEL to Rs 243.5 crore for the quarter, compared to the corresponding period last year. Subscription income from its domestic DTH (direct-to-home) television services stood at Rs 51.4 crore during this quarter, a 89 per cent jump over Q2 2008-09.