The subscription revenues grew by 13% to Rs 479.14 crore. Of subscription revenue, domestic subscription revenue grew by 11% to Rs 375.2 crore while international subscription revenues grew by 19% to Rs 103.9 crore. Other sales & services sales have declined by 7% to Rs 62.45 crore. International Other sales & services revenue was at Rs 24.8 crore. The sports business revenue was Rs 127.8 crore while operating profit stood at Rs 2.2 crore. OPM has declined by 306 bps to 25.6%. The resultant PBT and EO has increased by 10% to Rs 391.64 crore. Net profit increased by 9% to Rs 247.40 crore

Financial Performance

For the quarter ended September 2015 (Consolidated)

The consolidated operating revenues increased by 24% to Rs 1384.9 crore for quarter. International business revenue stood at 202.2 crore.

The advertising revenues inclined by 35% to Rs 843.31 crore. International advertisement revenue was at Rs 73.5 crore.

The subscription revenues grew by 13% to Rs 479.14 crore. Of subscription revenue, domestic subscription revenue grew by 11% to Rs 375.2 crore while international subscription revenues grew by 19% to Rs 103.9 crore.

Other sales & services sales have declined by 7% to Rs 62.45 crore. International Other sales & services revenue was at Rs 24.8 crore.

The sports business revenue was Rs 127.8 crore while operating profit stood at Rs 2.2 crore.

OPM has declined by 306 bps to 25.6%. As a % of sales, the operating cost increased by 150 bps to 43.6%, while advertisement and publicity expenses inclined by 220 bps to 8.7%. As a result, the resultant operating profits inclined by 11% to Rs 354.63 crore.

Other income increased 13% to Rs 58.87 crore. The interest cost decreased by 9% to Rs 2.08 crore. Depreciation charge increased 48% to Rs 19.78 crore. As a result, the resultant PBT and EO has increased by 10% to Rs 391.64 crore.

There was an EO expense of Rs 33.06 crore for the quarter, which is write-off of investment by wholly owned subsidiary Asia Today for acquiring minority stake in MirriAD ltd. The tax outgo decreased by 14% to Rs 112.28 crore. Tax rate was at 31.3%. As a result, after considering minority interest, net profit increased by 9% to Rs 247.40 crore.

For the half year ended September 2015 (Consolidated)

The consolidated operating revenues were up by 25% to Rs 2724.76 crore. The advertising revenues were up by 30% to Rs 1623.24 crore, subscription revenues increased by 13% to Rs 941.67 crore and other sales & services increased by 81% to Rs 159.85 crore.

OPM decreased by 454 bps to 24.4%. The resultant operating profits increased by 6% to Rs 665.83 crore.

Other income for the period increased 39% to Rs 126.85 crore. Interest cost decreased 19% to Rs 3.61 crore while depreciation charge increased 11% at Rs 36.59 crore. PBT and EO increased by 10% to Rs 752.48 crore.

There was an EO expense of Rs 33.06 crore The tax outgo decreased by 6% to Rs 230.82 crore. Tax rate stood at 32.1%. As a result, after considering minority interest, net profit increased by 12% to Rs 491.16 crore.

During the quarter, Zee TV was ranked third amongst the Hindi General Entertainment Channels. The channel delivered a weekly average of 12 shows among top 50 shows during the quarter led by the top rated shows like Kumkum Bhagya, Jamai Raja and DID Season 5. New shows launched during the quarter were Yeh Vaada Raha, Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani,and Tashn-E-Ishq. Shows planned for launch in Q3 FY16 are Kala Teeka, I Can Do That and India's Best Dramebaaz.

The newly launched Hindi GEC &tv continues to build on its successful launch and has been performing well. The popular fiction show, Bhabhiji Ghar Pe Hai is now among the best performing property in its slot. The Voice, the biggest Non-fiction show of the channel was a huge success and further boosted the channel viewership. The channel is now slated for launching new shows in the third quarter

ZEE's Hindi Movie Cluster – Zee Cinema, &pictures, Zee Classic and Zee Action, continued to lead the genre with the highest viewership share. This quarter saw the premieres of Badlapur, Shaukeen and Gulaab Gang

The network operates two channels in the English entertainment and movies genre - Zee Café and Zee Studio. Zee Café was the market leader in the English GEC genre during the quarter and delivered a weekly average of 21 shows in top 50 during the quarter. The top shows on Zee Café were Ground Floor, Pretty Little Liars and The Big Bang Theory. The key shows launched in the quarter were Gotham, The Big Bang Theory Season 9 and Grey's Anatomy Season 11. The top performing properties on Zee Studio were Eight Below and Transformers.

During the quarter, Zee Marathi continued its lead as the number 1 channel in its genre. The channel was the slot leader in 9 prime time slots led by top rated fiction shows like Jai Malhar, Honar Soon Me Hya Gharchiand Nanda Saukhyabhare and non-fiction shows such as Chala Hava Yeun Dya and Home Minister.

Zee Bangla is the number 2 player in the Bangla GEC genre. The channel continued its strong lead in the non-fiction genre. The channel was the slot leader in 5 prime time bands during the quarter led by the top rated fiction shows like Goyenda Ginni, Deep Jwele Jai and Rashi and top rated non-fiction shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Happy Parents Day and Didi No. 1.

During the quarter, Zee Telugu further consolidated its lead as the number 1 channel in the Telugu GEC genre. The channel was the slot leader in 4 out of 10 prime time bands and number 2 in the remaining 6 prime time bands during weekday primetime for the quarter. The top rated fiction shows on the channel during the quarter were Muddha Mandaram, Varudhini Parinayam and Raama Seetha. Key shows launched during the quarter were BIG Celebrity Challenge and America Ammayi.

Zee Kannada further consolidated its number 2 ranking among the Kannada GEC genre during the quarter. Top rated shows on the channel were Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs, Jothe Jotheyali and Mahadevi. This quarter saw the launch of new shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs and Mahadevi. The top rated shows on Zee Tamil include Solluvathellam Unmai and Genes.

The key properties on our Sports channels bouquet during the quarter included telecast of India vs Zimbabwe cricket series, Tour de France and US Open Tennis among others. The forthcoming quarter would see the telecast of events like Pakistan vs England cricket series, Sri Lanka vs West Indies cricket series, UEFA Champions League, ATP Finals and WTA Finals.

ZEE's International business continues to perform strongly driven by global demand for products. ZEE intends to continue to grow this business and ensure timely and appropriate investments to capitalise on this opportunity. The highlights of the International Operations during the quarter were as follows:

• In Americas, Zee TV continued to garner the highest viewership share among South Asian networks with an 54% market share. Successfully completed DID North America

• In Europe, &tv and Zing were among the top 10 channels in UK for the months of July and August. Zee Russia reached out to 8.8 Mn viewers and was the number 2 channel within the thematic channel pack.

• In MENAP, Zee TV was the number one channel and Zee Cinema was the number 2 channel among South Asian expats in their respective genres in the UAE with GRPs of 149 and 56 respectively. Zee Aflam continued its successful run as the Number 3 movie channel in the All Arabs target audience in Saudi Arabia.

• In Africa, Launched Zee Magic, a GEC offering Indian content to Francophone markets in Africa. The channel is reaching an estimated 2 million households across 26 countries. Zee World with 122 GRPs was the third ranked channel in genre amongst its target audience in South Africa.

• In APAC, Zee Variasi garnered 72 GRPs among Malay 15+ TG on Astro Platform. &tv was launched in Singapore. Zee Bioskop and Zee Hiburan were added on additional platforms further increasing their reach

Management Comments:

The economic growth momentum in India continues to remain strong. The GDP growth seems to be on an upswing after bottoming out and the underlying economic prospects are positive as well. With various economic reforms in the pipeline the overall business environment in India is improving. We hope that the Media industry will reap the benefits of the improved environment through higher advertisement and subscription revenue

ZEE has seen an impressive performance during the second quarter. The improvement in advertisement industry and improved performance of our network has helped us grow ahead of the market. We continue to see the positive results of our investments. We will endeavor to continue on this track going forward and pursue new opportunities that will yield long term growth. Our effort is to entertain audience across the world.

Mr Punit Goenka, Managing Director & CEO, commented

We are quite pleased with our quarterly performance and it continues to remain on track. We have grown as a network on the back of superior programming on our new and existing products. The improvement in the overall advertisement market has further aided our strong growth. The domestic subscription market has also seen steady growth

ZEE is the leading content player in the Indian TV industry offering maximum hours of content for audiences both home and abroad. Going forward, our endeavor would be to further enhance our offerings and be ahead of the market in delivering innovative and high quality entertainment to our viewers across consumption platforms. We believe that in this fast evolving media and entertainment space delivering excellent content will remain key for monetizing revenues, from both advertising and subscription standpoint.

Shareholding Pattern

The promoter holds 43.07% stake in the company.

The promoters have pledged 35.74% of total shareholding of promoter & promoter group and 15.39% of the total share capital of the company.

Valuation

The scrip is trading around Rs 401.05