Dish TV Q1-FY13: Adds 504,000 Subscribers, Rs 519.9 Cr Revenues

Dish TV, the Direct to Home television services operator, has reported operating revenues of Rs 519.9 crore for the quarter ended June 3o, 2012, up by 12.9% from the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs. 155.6 crore, a significant 38.7% increase from the same quarter last year. EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 29.9%.

The net loss for the quarter was Rs. 32.32 crore, down from Rs 49 crore loss reported in the previous quarter. The loss was adversely impacted by foreign exchange loss of Rs. 13.8 crore.

Highlights

Dish TV informed that it has added 504,000 new subscribers in the quarter ended June 30th, 2012, taking the total number of gross subscribers to 13.4 million subscribers and net subscribers to 9.8 million.

Subscriber Acquisition Cost (SAC) stood at Rs. 2,145, up from Rs 2,127 in the last quarter.

Average Revenue Per User: The annual average revenue per user (ARPU) for DishTV stood at Rs 156, an increase compared to Rs 151 in the previous quarter. This was due to the price hikes taken in the previous quarter.

Subscription revenues for the quarter was at Rs. 455.6 crore, a growth of 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

HD additions: Dish TV garnered a 25% incremental share of HD additions during the quarter.

According to Jawahar Goel, MD of the company, the first quarter witnessed a partial comeback post the sluggishness before it. However, enhanced consumer demand owing to digitization was yet to fully reflect in acquisition numbers. He mentioned that Dish TV recently initiated a price hike at the entry level as well as across standard definition packs. “While some restrain in customer demand in the short term cannot be ruled out, the net impact going forward is going to be ARPU accretive. Moreover, with digitization around the corner, subscription revenues are expected to increase as viewers sample better content on their television. The government, at its end, has been sending firm signals to the industry that there would be no further extension of the deadline,” he added.

Talking about the company’s performance in the quarter, he informed that churn sustained its downward movement, closing at 1% per month. “Efficiencies at the cost front helped enhance operating margins despite normalized lease rentals flattening the top-line growth. Enhanced offer fee, coupled with higher number of subscriber adds sequentially, maintained subscriber acquisition cost largely in line with the previous quarter.”

Subhash Chandra, Chairman of the company mentioned that the postponement of the digitalisation deadline came as a negative surprise but the company hopes that the October 30th timeline will be adhered to. He said that the company remains well prepared for the digitization run with its ground infrastructure and ability to seed set top boxes within a short turnaround time.

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