Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) Q4 00/01 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY ended Mar. 31, 2001: total income rose 47% YoY to Rs 4,358m; EBITDA increased 64% to Rs 1,874m and PAT rose 68% to Rs 1,382m.

• Network retained leadership overall, with 28% share of eyeballs; Zee Cinema, Zee News, Alpha Marathi and Alpha Gujarati led their segments.

• Growth priorities included pay-TV, international markets, cable-network upgrades and education; restructuring aimed to improve customer focus and business-unit synergies.

Financial highlights

• Sales and services revenue was Rs 3,846.6m vs Rs 2,869.8m; other income rose to Rs 511.1m from Rs 100.8m, lifting total income to Rs 4,357.7m.

• Operating profit was Rs 1,363m; PBIDT/EBITDA was Rs 1,873.6m, PBT Rs 1,619.5m and PAT Rs 1,381.8m.

• PAT increased 68% YoY to Rs 1,382m; prior-year PAT included Rs 1,849.9m profit on a one-time film-library sale, while prior-year PAT excluding that gain was Rs 822.5m.

• Dividend recommended at 55%, equivalent to Rs 226.9m proposed dividend plus Rs 23.1m dividend tax.

Outlook and guidance

• Management expected growth from pay revenues, syndication, film production and international markets, alongside advertising as the main revenue source for some time.

• Digital transmission migration was expected to reduce transmission costs in the coming year; the DTO bouquet grew more than 75% in nine months.

• Plans included pursuing Canada, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, while expanding interactive and value-added cable services.