Zee Entertainment net profit up 50.5% to Rs 562.76 cr in December quarter

Media firm Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) Tuesday reported a 50.56 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 562.76 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018, driven by good performance of broadcast business.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 373.77 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, ZEEL said in a BSE filing.

Total income stood at Rs 2,252.75 crore, up 19.43 per cent, compared with Rs 1,886.11 crore a year ago.

"We have delivered yet another quarter of strong performance across all our businesses. ZEEL is scaling up in line with our expectations and is on course to become India's number one digital entertainment platform," said ZEEL Chairman Subhash Chandra.

The company's total expenses stood at Rs 1,441.82 crore, up 7.72 per cent as compared with Rs 1,338.38 crore in the year-ago period.

The advertising revenue grew by 21.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,462.6 crore.

"The 20.6 per cent growth in domestic advertising revenue, on a strong base, was driven by the continued strong performance of our television business and aided by the emerging digital business," the company said.

Its subscription revenue grew 23.3 per cent to Rs 618.5 crore.

"Domestic subscription revenue for the quarter increased by 28.6 per cent YoY, whereas international subscription revenue increased by 1.2 per cent YoY," it added.

According to the company, "Higher than normal domestic subscription revenue growth was on a low base and driven by monetisation of phase-III subscribers".

Shares of ZEEL Tuesday settled at Rs 456.70 apiece on the BSE, up 1.87 per cent from the previous close.