Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) recorded a 5% decline in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at ₹130 crore in the September quarter, compared to ₹137 crore it had reported a year ago in the same period. The media company announced its earnings for the July–September quarter on Thursday.
ZEEL revenue, however, surged 20.4% to ₹2,437.8 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal, compared to ₹2,024 crore it had posted a year ago. A CNBC-TV18 poll estimated revenue at ₹2,177 crore. This was led by a “strong performance in digital and healthy viewership gains in linear,” an earnings statement from ZEEL said.
The company’s revenue from advertisement fell 3.3% to ₹979 crore in the July-September quarter of FY24, compared to ₹1,013 crore in Q2FY23.
“Some early pick up in Ad spending was witnessed led by FMCG during Q2, the overall pace of Ad environment recovery continues to be slow,” ZEEL said, adding, “Ad revenue is also impacted by busy cricket season (Asia Cup, ICC World Cup).”
ZEEL subscription revenue came in at ₹887.83 crore in the September quarter, 8% higher than the ₹822 crore it had posted in the same quarter a year ago. This growth was “driven by pick up in linear subscription revenue post-NTO 3.0 & ZEE5”.
Revenue from ‘Other sales and Services’ was over two-fold to ₹570.79 crore in the September quarter. This increase was “aided by higher syndication and strong theatrical performance of movies,” ZEEL said.
Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprise settled 1.15% higher at ₹262.80 a piece on the BSE.