Network18 Media and Investments‘, the holding company of the Network18 group, reported that its consolidated net losses have increased 2.3 times in the quarter ending September 2009 to reach Rs. 833.63 million. Consolidated revenues were up 25% quarter on quarter to Rs. 2.83 billion. Operating expenses are up 37.62% to Rs. 3.24 billion and operating margin is down from -4.06% to -14.64%. The company reported an operating loss of Rs. 414.15 million for the quarter.
Revenues from investment activities have risen 3.55 times to Rs. 49.50 million in the quarter compared to Rs. 13.94 in the previous quarter. It is still 89.29% lower than revenues from investments in the corresponding quarter last year which were at Rs. 462.4 million.
Consolidated earnings per share with ESOP charge out has plumetted to – Rs.8.69 from -Rs. 3.79 recorded in the previous quarter.
Details: Release | Financials
Companies in the Network18 group include broadcasting companies TV18 and IBN18, digital media company Web18, publishing house Infomedia18 and wire agency Newswire18. The group also owns stake in broadcasting company Viacom18, multi-platform shopping division HomeShop18; E18 & Sports18 and its investments advisory division. It also runs The Indian Film Company (TIFC).
Standalone, Network18 witnessed a fall of 18.16% in net losses to Rs. 107.11 million from the previous quarter’s Rs. 130.88 million with operating expenses continuing to rise uninhibited to Rs. 96.90 million. It reported a 79.68% quarter on quarter rise in standalone revenues to Rs. 103.1 million and EPS rose to -Rs.1.12.
Homeshop18: The one star in Network18’s universe of initiatives is HomeShop18, a shopping channel which will soon find a competitor in the form of Star CJ Network which is readying its launch as a 24-hour TV channel. Revenues from commissions for HomeShop18 rose 21.39% from the previous quarter to Rs. 108.38 million, reaching double the income from commissions recorded in the same quarter last year. The company reports gross sales have crossed Rs. 450 million in the quarter ending September 2009. There is no mention of the number of orders; last quarter it received 2.3 lakh orders.
Setpro18’s revenues leaped 55.81% to Rs. 286.84 million from Rs. 184.1o million, while the events and sports management divisions observed a 29.89% climb in combined revenues to Rs. 52.32 million from the Rs. 40.28 million recorded in the quarter ending June 2009.
TV18 has recorded a 15.55% rise in total revenues from subsidiaries to Rs. 1.24 billion. Contribution of subsidiaries to revenues: News operations contributed 52.2%, Web18 contributed 12.9%, Newswire18 contributed 6.36% and Infomedia18 contributed 28.52%
News operations showed net losses rising 17.11% to Rs. 331.07 million and revenues up 13.87% to Rs. 647.43 million in the quarter ending September 2009. Business news channels recorded a 14% rise in revenues on a quarter on quarter basis and CNBC channels secured a 65% market share in the business news genre. Their operating margin was 16% and the company expects things to look up after four quarters of de-growth, comparing year on year. IBN18 Broadcast recorded a 27.62% rise in revenues to Rs. 1.36 billion in the quarter ending September 2009.
Newswire18: Network18’s newswire service reported a glum 5.91% revenue growth from the previous quarter to Rs. 78.88 million. Newswire18 has turned EBITDA positive with an operating profit of Rs. 2.01 million; net losses fell 7.59% to Rs. 13.28 million; its operating margin stood at 2.55%. Newswire18 will be launching new products for mobiles in the next quarter. The company expects sales to pick up in the second half with market sentiments improving.
Infomedia18 is yet to turn an EBITDA profit; revenues are up 22.7% in the quarter to Rs. 353.72 million but is also only 21.77% up from the corresponding quarter last year. The company reports that the order book for the joint venture set up with Alibaba.com in August already shows a sequential growth. In India, Alibaba competes with the likes of TradeIndia.com and Indiamart.com, both B2B marketplaces.
Expenses for Infomedia18 rose 33.86% to Rs. 415.1 million and net losses have reduced considerably (46.84%) to Rs. 37.90 million this quarter. Last quarter, it revamped itself to add more revenue streams and improve cost efficiency.
IBN18 Broadcast: Consolidated losses for the subsidiary were at Rs. 823.68 million over revenues (unaudited) of Rs. 1.37 billion for the quarter ended September 2009. Total expenditure rose to Rs. 1.73 billion.
On a standalone basis (unaudited), IBN18 recorded losses of Rs. 598.66 million (losses have tripled since the same period last year). Note: here IBN18 has considered only CNN-IBN and the Hindi news channel IBN7 – is the latter’s inability to consolidate a position in the market going to hurt IBN18? Revenues fell 12.06% year on year to Rs. 408.45 million and EBITDA decreased to –Rs. 135.74 million. There is an exceptional expense of Rs. 296.7 million on the option premium paid by IBN18 through its wholly owned subsidiary which has been written off as an impairment.
Viacom18 showed (unaudited) income of Rs. 2 billion, encumbered by expenditure of Rs. 2.38 billion; losses stood at Rs. 416.3 million. IBN Lokmat, which faces competition from Zee 24 Taas and Star Majha, recorded an (unaudited) income of Rs. 25.5 million and a net loss of Rs. 54.4 million. MTV has observed a 17% QoQ growth in ad revenues, while Color’s is up 46%, showing signs that IBN18 broadcast might be in a position to grow significantly. Details of subscription-driven revenue are not available.
Revenues generated by Network18’s advisory services division crashed 59.49% to Rs. 1.28 million in the quarter ending September 2009. In the previous quarter, the division witnessed revenues of Rs. 3.16 million. More on Capital 18 here.
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