Zee Entertainment announced its Q4FY23 results on May 25, reporting a net loss of ₹196 crore, compared to a net profit of ₹181 crore in the corresponding period last year. The media giant’s revenue during the January-march quarter came in at ₹2,112.1 crore, registering a decline of nine per cent, compared to ₹2,323 crore in the year-ago period.
On the operating front, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) during the fourth quarter stood at ₹151.7 crore, registering a plunge of 71.2 per cent, compared to ₹526.4 crore in the same period last year. The EBITDA for FY23 was down 38.2 per cent year-on-year due to decline in revenue and elevated strategic investments across the business.
The advertising spending slowdown, investment in ZEE5, movie launches and sports impacted the operating performance during the quarter under review. The company’s domestic advertising revenues during the fourth quarter stood at ₹968 crore, registering a decline of 10 per cent year-on-year impacted by the FTA withdrawal (Zee Anmol) and slowdown in ad spending.
The programming and technology cost increased year-on-year due to higher content cost in movies, investment in ZEE5 and Sports. The subscription revenue declined one per cent year-on-year, while the growth in ZEE5 was offset by decline in linear TV subscription.
42 shows and movies, including 12 originals were released during the quarter on ZEE5 and the average watch time per viewer stood at 229 minutes. ZEE5’s revenue stood at ₹220 crore, registering a growth of 36 per cent year-on-year. The platform’s global MAUs stood at ₹11.38 crore during the fourth quarter, registering a rise of 0.9 crore year-on-year.
Last month, brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher came out with its earninsg expectations for the media house with a net profit estimate of Rs. 58.6 crore down 77.6 per cent uear-on-year. It expected net sales to decrease by 16.3 percent year-on-year (down 7.9 per cent Q-o-Q) to Rs. 1,944.9 crore.
On May 25, shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises settled 1.22 per cent lower at ₹178.75 apiece on the BSE.
