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Direct-to-home company Dish TV today posted a lower standalone loss of Rs 43.62 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 against a loss of Rs 49.02 crore for the same period last year.
Dish TV’s total income from operations, however, grew by 7.54 per cent to Rs 555.40 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 516.44 crore in the year-ago period, Dish TV said in a statement.
For the year ended March 31, 2013, Dish TV’s consolidated net loss was lower at Rs 66 crore from a net loss of Rs 133.14 crore in 2011-12.
Consolidated total income from operations was up 10.66 per cent to Rs 2,166.80 crore in FY13 from Rs 1,957.93 crore in the previous fiscal.
“Fiscal 2013 saw most players in the Indian DTH industry evolve to the next level. The industry pulled off a significant increase in the acquisition price over the last several months thereby reducing the effective cash burn per subscriber,” Dish TV Managing Director Jawahar Goel said.
While the resultant decline in industry gross additions is marginal, it is expected to be well compensated by quality of subscribers, he added.
“There was no respite though, from the multiple taxation which the DTH industry is reeling under. Uncertainty on the rollout of Goods & Services Tax (GST) continues to be an overhang on the earnings potential of the industry,” he said.
Dish TV added around 200,000 net subscribers in the quarter ended March 31, 2013 achieving a cumulative total of 10.7 million net subscribers at the end of the period.
“In the absence of an enforceable contract for set-top box recovery, Dish TV looks forward to move to a virtually nil subsidy model over the medium term,” Goel said.
With a strong service backup and an increasing focus on value growth rather than headline subscriber numbers, DTH is well positioned to develop as a premium offering compared to cable, he added.
Subscription revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 500.1 crore, a growth of 15.3 per cent compared to the same period last fiscal.
The per Subscriber Acquisition Cost (SAC) was recorded at Rs 1,996 compared to Rs 2,201 in the immediately preceding quarter, the statement said.
Dish TV’s average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter was Rs 157 compared to Rs 160 in the immediately preceding quarter.
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