Zee Entertainment Q2 results: Profit drops 63.5% as ad revenue weakens

Zee's Q2FY26 profit declined 63.5% to Rs 76.5 crore as ad revenue fell 11%, though subscription and digital revenues rose, with ZEE5 narrowing its EBITDA loss by 80%

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) on Thursday reported a sharp fall in its consolidated net profit by 63.5 per cent to ₹76.5 crore in the second quarter of the financial year 2026 (Q2FY26) against the same period last year, as the drop in advertising revenue due to a slowdown in domestic FMCG advertising spending weighed on the Punit Goneka-led firm.

 

The company’s revenue fell by 1.6 per cent to ₹1969.2 crore in Q2FY26 on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis. Its other income dropped by 21.7 per cent to ₹26.4 crore during the period.

 

“Domestic advertising environment continues to be soft; pick-up on account of the festival season augurs well for near-term,” the company said in its earnings release. Its advertising revenue declined by 11 per cent to ₹806.3 crore in Q2 compared to the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the company’s subscription revenue grew by five per cent to ₹1,023 crore, led by both its linear and digital segments.      

 

 

ZEEL said in its earnings release that investment in content for long-term growth impacted the company’s profitability. It’s with its profit before interest, depreciation, and tax (PBIDT) decreasing by 48 per cent to ₹185.5 crore in Q2 on a Y-o-Y basis. 

 

In ZEE5, its streaming platform, the company reduced its Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) losses by around 80 per cent in the quarter on a Y-o-Y basis.

 

The company said that ZEE5 was on track to achieve breakeven through revenue growth and maintaining a balanced cost structure, as per its earnings release. The OTT platform’s revenue increased by 32 per cent to ₹310.8 crore in Q2 compared to the same quarter last year.

 

“The company is taking firm steps to build a robust foundation for its future growth,” said Punit Goenka, chief executive officer (CEO), in the company’s earnings call.

 

“One of the most significant results of these steps is the continued improvement in our digital business, quarter-on-quarter. Our strategic approach focused on the performance and profitability of ZEE5 is yielding considerable results. We remain committed to achieving profitability in this segment in the quarters to come, on the back of these concerted steps,” he said.

 

On the other hand, the board of directors of the company approved an additional investment of ₹15 crore in the equity share capital of Ideabaaz Tech, an integrated start-up platform, according to its stock exchange filing. In July, ZEEL had entered into a strategic partnership with Ideabaaz Tech to launch a new intellectual property (IP) called Ideabaaz.