Dish TV posts loss of Rs 16.05 crore in Q1

Direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV India today reported a standalone net loss of Rs 16.05 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014.
The company had registered a standalone net profit of Rs 31.73 crore for the April-June quarter of the last fiscal.
Its net sales also declined to Rs 638.93 crore during the period as against Rs 645.49 crore in the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a filing to the BSE.
"Post a mediocre 2014, fiscal 2015 had a promising start for the DTH industry. Dish TV, supported by a debt light balance sheet and a more willing consumer market, put the pedal to the metal and led the industry growth by garnering the highest incremental share during the quarter," Dish TV Managing Director Jawahar Goel said.

On the future outlook of the company, Dish TV CEO R C Venkateish said that he was very optimistic and this fiscal its subscriber base would grow in the regions where government is implementing digitisation under phase III and IV.
"We have launched Zing brand to tap the vernacular market and we would expand it to other languages. Right now Zing is available in West Bengal, Southern Assam and Maharashtra," Venkateish told PTI.

Dish TV's ARPU (average revenue per user) has increased to Rs 170 per month during the first quarter, he added.
However, he also added that the union budget this year has disappointed the company as it was expecting some relief from the government on tax issues.

Dish TV added 3.32 lakh subscribers during the quarter ended June 30, 2014. It has a total subscriber base of 1.17 crore at the end of the period, Venkateish added.
Company's shares were trading at Rs 59.05 per scrip, up 0.25 per cent from its previous close on the BSE.