Zee Entertainment posts Rs 53.42 crore net loss in Q1

New Delhi: Media major Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd on Wednesday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 53.42 crore in the June quarter on account of costs related to its merger with Culver Max.

The company incurred an exceptional expense of Rs 70.64 crore on the merger with Culver Max during the quarter.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 106.60 crore in the year-ago quarter, Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) said in a BSE filing.

However, its total income was up 6.46 per cent to Rs 1,998.26 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal as against Rs 1,876.84 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Its margin "year-on-year was impacted by increase in costs across content, marketing and technology", said an earning update from the company.

Total expenses in the June quarter were at Rs 1,926.97 crore, up 16.5 per cent.

ZEEL's advertisement revenue was down 4 per cent to Rs 940.91 crore on account of muted ad spending environment, with IPL in the first two months of the quarter.

During the June quarter, several media companies witnessed a chunk of advertising going towards IPL matches.

"Green shoots emerged towards the quarter-end, with early signs of ad spending starting to pick up, led by FMCG," the filing said.

Its subscription revenue rose 17.6 per cent to Rs 907.49 crore during the quarter, "driven by pick up in subscription revenue post-NTO 3.0 (National Tariff Order 3.0) and ZEE5".

ZEEL's revenue from "other sales and services" rose 42.07 per cent to Rs 135.40 crore.

This increase was "aided by theatrical revenue from movie releases," said ZEEL.

Shares of ZEEL on Wednesday settled at 242.10 apiece on the BSE, up 1.62 per cent.