Q1 Results: Dish TV’s Profit Misses Estimates, Margin Expands In June Quarter

Dish TV India Ltd.’s net profit missed analyst expectations in the April-June quarter even as its per user revenue grew on the back of increased viewership of high definition channels, price hikes and fewer discounts.

India’s largest direct-to-home television operator's net profit fell 77 percent to Rs 27.9 crore as compared to the previous quarter, according to Dish TV’s filings with the stock exchanges. The consensus of analyst estimates compiled by BloombergQuint had forecast a profit at Rs 36.8 crore.

• Revenue rose 8 percent to Rs 1,655.6 crore on a quarter-on-quarter basis, beating estimates.
• Operating profit rose 39 percent to Rs 556.7 crore, also above estimates.
• Margin expanded to 33.6 percent from 26.1 percent in the previous quarter.

DishTV earned an average revenue per user of Rs 214 during the quarter, compared to Rs 201 in the previous quarter. That coupled with a pick up in subscriber additions and higher package prices helped the operator complete a turnaround.

“Incrementally higher HD viewership, lower discounts at package levels and a price hike across a majority of recharge packages brought about this increase in subscription revenues during the quarter,” it said in a media statement.

The firm recently completed its long-standing merger with Videocon d2h taking it to the top of India's direct-to-home market. “With integration across functions getting almost complete, initial cost synergies materialised during the quarter,” Dish TV said.

Other Highlights

• Net subscriber addition stood at 3 lakh during the quarter.
• Total subscription revenue increased 8.8 percent to Rs 1,489 crore.
• 44 percent of the total subscriber additions were in the high definition segment.
• Net subscriber base stood at 2.3 crore as of June end.

(Updates with quarter-on-quarter numbers. Year-on-year numbers are not comparable due to merger of Videocon d2h on March 22.)