MUMBAI: Entertainment Network (India) Ltd has posted a profit of Rs 13 million (Rs 1.3 crores) for the quarter ended 31 March, 2009.
The company’s revenues were down by 22.7 per cent at Rs 503 million (Rs 50.3 crores) as compared to Rs 651 million (Rs 65.1 crores) in corresponding period of last fiscal year.
ENIL’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at Rs 134 million (Rs 13.4 crores), margin of 26.7 per cent.
Revenues for the year ended 31 March, 2009, grew by one per cent to Rs 229 crores. EBITDA for the period was Rs 50.7 crores.
On a consolidated basis, ENIL reported revenues of Rs 998 million (Rs 99.8 crores) during Q4FY09 compared to Rs 1.23 billion (Rs 123.4 crores) during Q4FY08. The loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the quarter was Rs 113 million (Rs 11.3 crores). For the year ended 31 March, 2009, revenues grew by three per cent to Rs 4.27 billion (Rs 427.1 crores).
ENIL managing director A. P. Parigi said, "Advertisement revenues, both in the radio business and the OOH Media business, were adversely impacted by the economic slowdown. We are working on new revenue opportunities and cost optimization measures to improve the profitability of our businesses."
Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday added, "It’s been a very trying quarter for all media companies. While Mirchi’s revenues have also dropped, I am happy to report that Mirchi’s market share has grown. Our cost cutting measures have started bearing results and we expect to realise the full benefit next year. This will lead to improvement in margins in FY10. We will continue to invest in brand building next year like we did this quarter with the Mirchi Music Awards – watched by nearly 11.5 million viewers on TV."
On the other hand, Times OOH reported a revenue growth of 11 per cent during FY09. However, revenues during the quarter were lower by 33.1 per cent.
Times OOH managing director Sunder Hemrajani said, "The business environment for OOH media in Q4FY09 was extremely adverse given the effect of economic slowdown. The OOH media industry has declined sharply during the quarter which has adversely impacted the revenues of the Company. The Company has taken steps to maximize revenues through increase in width and depth of customer base and focus on innovations and customer engagement. Also, aggressive cost initiatives have been taken in order to mitigate the effect of the business downturn and ensure the profitability of the business going forward."
