Revenue from operations declined marginally to Rs 2,111.18 crore in quarter ended 31 December 2022 from Rs 2,112.64 crore posted in the same period a year ago.

The company's revenue from Advertisement was at Rs 1,063.82 crore (down 15.62% YoY), revenue from Subscription stood at Rs 894.40 crore (up 13.19% YoY) and revenue from Other sales and services was at Rs 152.95 crore (up 147.93% YoY) during the period under review.

ZEEL said that advertising revenue growth for the quarter impacted due to FTA withdrawal (Zee Anmol) and slowdown in FMCG spends due to challenging macro economic environment.

Meanwhile, subscription revenue was aided by underlying organic growth in Zee5, Zee Music and by recognition of subscription revenue from Siti network. The rise in Other sales and services revenue was mainly driven by higher syndication revenue. Theatrical performance continues to be soft, the company added.

Consolidated profit before exceptional items dropped 40.58% year on year to Rs 255.19 crore in Q3 FY23. The company recorded an exceptional loss of Rs 168.97 crore during the quarter.

EBITDA tumbled 29.5% to Rs 338 crore in the third quarter from Rs 479.3 crore posted in Q3 FY22. The decrease in the EBITDA was impacted by slower growth in revenue and elevated investment in content, marketing and technology. EBITDA margin reduced to 16% in Q3 FY23 as compared with 22.7% reported in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Total expenses rose 10.04% YoY to Rs 1,871.81 crore in Q3 FY23. Advertisement and publicity expenses grew 6.06% to Rs 241.98 crore in Q3 FY23. Advertisement and publicity (A&P) expenses was at Rs 241.98 crore (up 6.06% YoY), operational cost stood at Rs 1,134.37 crore (up 11.54% YoY) and finance costs came at Rs 13.14 crore (up 343.92%).

The company said that the programming and technology cost increased YoY due to higher content cost in movies and linear and continued investment in Zee5.

New content launches and theatrical releases increased the marketing cost on a YoY basis, the firm added.

ZEEL is a media & entertainment company offering entertainment content to diverse audiences. It is present across broadcasting, movies, music, digital, live entertainment, and theatre businesses, both within India and overseas.