Tie-up with Arasu Cable boosts market sentiment
Following Raj Television Network's pact with Arasu Cable to take its channels across the State, the shares of the company on Wednesday gained 3.34 per cent. After hitting 52-week high of Rs 112.9 in intra-day dealings, it closed at Rs 105.15 on the BSE. The stock gained 7.55 per cent on Tuesday.
On the BSE, 1.78 lakh shares were traded against its daily average volume of 25,780 shares in the past one quarter.
The small-cap television broadcaster has an equity capital of Rs 12.98 crore (face value is Rs 10).
The company reported net profit of Rs 2.05 crore for the quarter ended December 31, compared with net loss of close to Rs 1 crore in the same period a year ago. Net sales rose 87.4 per cent to Rs 13.94 crore during the quarter, from Rs 7.44 crore in the comparable previous year quarter.
Sees better turnover
Reacting to this, Mr M. Raajhendhran, Managing Director of the company, said it hopes to close the current financial year with a turnover of Rs 60 crore from Rs 45 crore in 2010-11. “And, we hope to take it to over Rs 100 crore in 2012-13,” he said.
On the company's plans for the year ahead, he said, its focus will be back on film production. The company, which produced seven films in the last five years, is now planning to produce five films in the 2012-13 financial year.
According to him, each film may entail a budget of Rs 10 crore. Besides, on the company's core business activity — TV broadcasting — he said, following the deal with Arasu Cable, the channels now reach a larger audience. As a result, the channels' TRP ratings (television rating points — a tool to judge the reach of the channel) may go up, leading to increased subscription and advertising revenues.
The company has a bouquet of 12 channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Following the revamp, our Raj Music and Raj News in Kannada are doing very well. “We are now revamping our GEC (general entertainment channels) in Kannada and Telugu,” said Mr Raajhendhran.
Keywords: Raj Television Network, pact, Arasu Cable, stocks, upper hit