Zee Entertainment gains in volatile trade after announcing Q3 earnings

Zee Entertainment Enterprises gained 1.63% to Rs 286.15 at 14:26 IST on BSE after consolidated net profit rose 10.03% to Rs 213.59 crore on 25.8% rise in total income to Rs 1226.40 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.

The Q3 result was announced during market hours today, 22 January 2014.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 27 points, or 0.13%, to 21,278.12

On BSE, so far 1.44 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 1.03 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock was volatile. The stock rose as much as 1.93% at the day's high of Rs 287 so far during the day. The stock fell as much as 0.76% at the day's low of Rs 279.40 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 194.30 on 16 April 2013. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 300.55 on 13 January 2014.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 21 January 2014, rising 0.39% compared with the Sensex's 0.81% rise. The scrip, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 5.41% as against Sensex's 1.71% rise.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 96.03 crore. Face value per share is Re 1.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises' advertising revenue rose 34.3% to Rs 684.30 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012. Subscription revenue rose 11.4% to Rs 456.50 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises' consolidated operating revenue rose 26.6% to Rs 1188.40 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012. Operating profit EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization) jumped 11.3% to Rs 290.70 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012. EBITDA margin contracted to 24.5% in Q3 December 2013, from 27.8% in Q3 December 2012.

Mr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee, stated, "India's economic health continues to remain precarious. Inflation has been rising, fueled by spike in food prices and currency's fall earlier in the year. On the other hand, India's current account deficit has narrowed, which should mute the impact of Fed policy (QE tapering) on the rupee. Prospects for 2014 are cautiously optimistic and most of the experts predict a gradual improvement in India's economic growth. However, the optimistic outlook is clouded by political risks which continue to create uncertainties. Given the background, the growth of India's Media and Entertainment industry has been heartening. The Industry has shown a robust growth in 2013 and is expected to grow at a double digit growth in 2014 as well.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Chandra added, "While overall economic environment stays challenging, ZEE continues to grow its business at a healthy pace. The network shares are on an uptrend, buoyed with the addition of new channels in the network. Our investments in the sports business continued during the quarter. We also look to expand our portfolio to take advantage of the growth opportunities ahead of us. These investments are in line with our philosophy of enhancing long term shareholder value.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises is one of India's leading television, media and entertainment companies. It is amongst the largest producers and aggregators of Hindi programming in the world, with an extensive library housing over 1,00,000 + hours of television content.

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