The Hindu Business Line : NDTV loss in Q4 zooms to Rs 117 cr

New Delhi, April 17 Claiming to have transformed itself from a pure news broadcaster into a total media network, New Delhi Television has reported fourth quarter losses which it says were incurred from the launch of new channels.

Announcing its consolidated results for the quarter ending March 2008, NDTV reported a net loss of Rs 117.4 crore as against a loss of Rs 0.74 crore reported during the corresponding period the previous year. The company’s revenues for the quarter were up more than 50 per cent to Rs 122.2 crore as against Rs 81.4 crore reported the corresponding quarter the previous year.

The company reported an annual consolidated loss of Rs 185.6 crore for the financial year ending March 2008 as against a net loss of Rs 14.4 crore reported the previous year. Revenues for the year grew to more than 31 per cent to more than Rs 366 crore as against Rs 278.4 crore the previous year.

In a release announcing the results, NDTV said it was considering a vertical spilt of its news and non-news businesses, to unlock shareholder value and promote focused growth of its various businesses. The company has launched a general entertainment channel, NDTV Imagine and a lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times. “The above re-organisation could include the de-merger or split of the company into ‘News related businesses’ and ‘Non News businesses’ (which would include the investments which are currently held through its subsidiary NDTV Networks Plc) as part of other organisational restructuring,” said NDTV in a statement.

Its board has decided to constitute a committee to evaluate various options. During the year it also launched its first city based channel, MetroNation for Delhi, and NDTV Arabia and the Bahasa language Astro Awani in Malaysia.

On a standalone basis NDTV reported net profits of Rs 4.2 crore for the 12 months ending March 2008, as against net losses of Rs 6.8 crore reported during the 12 months ending March 2007. Net sales for the financial year were up almost 30 per cent at Rs 305.6 crore as against Rs 235.3 crore reported the previous financial year.