Zee Ent Q1 profit at Rs 118.10 cr, revenue up 7.6% to Rs 2,149.52 cr

New Delhi: Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd on Wednesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 118.10 crore for the April-June quarter of this financial year, as the margins improved on effective cost management.

The company had reported a net loss of Rs 53.42 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago, Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) said in a regulatory filing.

The total income of the company was up 7.56 per cent to Rs 2,149.52 crore during the quarter under review. It was at Rs 1,998.26 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

In the June quarter, ZEEL had a "soft advertising environment offset by pickup in subscription revenue, movie releases and higher syndication revenue," ZEEL said in an earnings statement.

The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin in the first quarter of this fiscal was at 12.8 per cent, a year-on-year increase of 500bps, which was "aided by effective cost management, it added.

Total expenses of ZEEL were marginally up in the June quarter of FY25 at Rs 1,941.12 crore.

During the reported quarter, the revenue of ZEEL from advertising was down 3.14 per cent to Rs 911.34 crore. It was at Rs 940.91 crore a year ago.

This was "impacted by cricket and general elections," ZEEL said in an earnings presentation.

However, its subscription revenue was up 8.78 per cent to Rs 987.19 crore in the June quarter. It was Rs 907.49 crore in the corresponding quarter.

"Subscription revenue growth is driven by pick up in linear subscription revenue post-NTO 3.0 and ZEE5," it said, adding that its revenue from the other segments was up 71.34 per cent to Rs 232 crore.

"Other sales and services during the quarter were aided by movie releases and higher syndication," it added.

In the June quarter, ZEEL's operating cost had increased "driven by an increase in programming cost partially offset by a decline in technology cost." On the outlook, ZEEL said significant interventions have already been implemented towards margin improvement across the business.

"While Q1 has already started on a positive note with a significant step up in margins, we expect gradual margin improvement to continue through the rest of the year," it said.

It expects FY25 margins to be "meaningfully better" than FY24.

"Overall cost discipline and prudence will continue to hold us in good stead," it said, adding "magnitude of margin improvement will be dependent on Ad revenue pickup in H2." The company, which faced financial hurdles after Sony group last month called off its merger with its Indian subsidiary Culver Max, now "aspires to deliver industry-leading 18-20 per cent EBITDA margin." Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd on Wednesday closed at Rs 148.85 on BSE, up 2.58 per cent from the previous close.