Ortel's topline up 23% on growth in cable TV, broadband

Listed broadband provider logged a net profit of Rs 90 lakh in first quarter

Ortel Communications Ltd, a leading provider of cable TV and broadband service, has posted 22.9% rise in its total income at Rs 52.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 43.1 crore in the comparable period of last fiscal.

The listed broadband provider logged a net profit of Rs 90 lakh for the period while its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) stood at Rs 13.9 crore.

Bibhu Prasad Rath, president and chief executive officer, Ortel Communications said, "We have begun the year on a positive note with healthy results in our cable TV and broadband segments. This is reflected in the revenues which grew year-on-year by 45% and 26% respectively in Q1 of FY17. Our profitability, however, was impacted during the period under review primarily due to lower quarterly execution in the infrastructure leasing business. Going forward, I expect infrastructure leasing business to return back to normalcy in the coming quarters as execution picks up."

He said, the outlook for the rest of the fiscal looks promising as Ortel gears up to demonstrate better operational and financial performance on the back of higher subscriber base.

In the April-June period, Ortel added 68,949 subscribers, taking its total network to 770,141 (as on June end). Of the incremental subscribers, 83% were added in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Ortel also deepened its digital penetration in the period, improving its penetration ratio from 23.6% to 43.6%. In broadband business, Ortel added 5,127 subscribers and its broadband ARPU (average revenue per user) rose to Rs 401 per month.