Dish TV India, leading Indian direct-to-home (DTH) company, has posted a net loss of Rs 45 crore for the third quarter ended December 31. In the second quarter of FY13, it had posted a net profit of Rs 55 crore. In the corresponding quarter last fiscal, it had posted a net loss of Rs 43 crore.
With digitisation under way, Dish TV added 829,000 subscribers in the quarter, taking its total subscriber base to 14.7 million (gross) and 10.5 million (net).
The company said its subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) has come down to Rs 2,201 compared to Rs 2,273 in the immediately preceding quarter, despite additions.
Total standalone operating revenues stood at Rs 55.78 million, up from Rs 533.62 crore in the trailing quarter and Rs 493.08 crore in the year ago period.
While EBITDA was at Rs 137.7 crore, EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 24.7%.
Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV, said, “While the distribution industry remained on tenterhooks preparing for digitisation, the third quarter saw the much debated compulsory switch off of analog television signals take place in key metro markets. Although lack of execution in Chennai and Kolkata was a dampener, festival demand coupled with mandatory conversion in Delhi and Mumbai brought the DTH industry back to the 1 million plus monthly run-rate. DTH garnered around 35% share of incremental additions post the sunset date.”
However, a larger base has created pressure on the average revenue per user (ARPU) of the company, which -- primarily supported by price hike in the second quarter-- increased marginally to Rs 160.
The company's expenses rose to Rs 591.39 crore in the quarter (including depreciation and amortization expense of Rs 171.29 crore). While cost of goods and services attributed to almost 51 per cent of the total expenditure, the company also spent Rs 23.7 crore on advertising and promotions.
“In the third quarter, apart from the usual additional spends typically experienced due to the festive season, additionally this year the company’s investments to capitalise on the digitisation opportunity are also reflected in higher costs during the quarter. A seasonally higher marketing expense was as per budget. Content cost for the year is expected to be within the guided range of 12% increase over the previous fiscal,” Goel added.
Dish TV shares closed 4.96 per cent down on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday at Rs 73.70.
