Network18 Media & Investments Ltd on Tuesday reported nearly threefold jump in consolidated net profit at ₹199.27 crore for September quarter 2021-22 driven by improved revenue performance, controlled opex and lower finance costs.
The company had posted a net profit of ₹68.01 crore in July-September period a year ago, the media firm said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations was up 30.76 per cent to ₹1,387.24 crore during the quarter under review, as against ₹1,060.89 crore in the year-ago period.
According to Network18, its both news and entertainment businesses further improved profitability.
During the quarter it had a “strong revenue growth driven by viewership” and the “highest ever Q2 revenue (ex-film), grew 29 per cent YoY,” said Network18 in a post earning statement.
Total expenses surged to ₹1,189.04 crore from ₹ 976.90 crore.
Commenting on the results, Network18 Chairman Adil Zainulbhai said the quarter was quite remarkable, both from a macro as well as the company’s point of view.
Over the outlook, Zainulbhai said, it is looking quite promising from a medium-term perspective and this is a good news for all the consumer-facing businesses.
“Our digital assets, both news and entertainment, got a lift during the pandemic and we continue to invest to leverage those gains. With expansion into sports genre, we have taken a significant step towards scaling up our entertainment portfolio to the next level,” he said.
This will also help establish the company as an integrated media company across broadcast, OTT and content studio business spanning general entertainment, news, movies and sports, Zainulbhai added.
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Its step-down firm TV18 Broadcast manages its primary business of broadcasting. TV18 runs the largest news network in India, spanning business news, general news and regional news channels.
Shares of the company on Tuesday settled at ₹ 79.25 on BSE, down 5.37 per cent from the previous close.