The Zee Entertainment logo.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Bengaluru: Zee Entertainment Enterprises' third-quarter profit more than doubled as a pick-up in subscriptions offset a soft advertising environment, the Indian broadcaster reported on Tuesday, in its first results since its failed merger with Sony India.
Zee's profit rose to 585 million rupees ($7.05 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31 from 243.2 million rupees a year ago.
The results come weeks after Sony scrapped its merger with Zee, ending a deal that could have created one of India's biggest TV broadcasters, alleging breaches of contract.
Third-quarter subscription revenue was aided by the recognition of 590 million rupees from Siti Network, which belongs to Essel Group, Zee said in a statement.
Zee's subscription revenue for the quarter rose 3 per cent, while advertising revenue dropped 3 per cent.
While the third quarter saw some seasonal festive uptick, the overall pace of recovery of the advertisement environment continues to be slow, the company said.
It said it foresees certain expenses due to the merger not going through in terms of legal, compliance and advisors fee.
Zee expects to take six to eight months for its efforts to start showing up in the margin performance, with fiscal year 2025 expected to have meaningfully better margin than the fiscal year ending March 31.
Zee's operating revenue dropped 3 per cent to 20.46 billion rupees, while expenses rose 5.4 per cent.