Zee Entertainment Q3 Net up 8.6% to Rs 250.81 crore

New Delhi: Media firm Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) today reported a 8.64 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 250.81 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016, riding high on advertising and subscription revenues.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 230.86 crore in the same quarter a year-ago, ZEEL said in a BSE filing. Total income on consolidated basis was up 3.38 per cent at Rs 1,639.12 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 1,585.42 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Total expenses was down 2.39 per cent to Rs 1,148.23 crore as against Rs 1,176.38 crore. ZEEL MD & CEO Punit Goenka said: "We are happy to deliver another quarter of strong profit growth in a challenging environment. Despite the impact of demonetization on our advertising revenues, we have improved our EBITDA margins.

This highlights our ability to manage costs to drive profitable growth on a consistent basis." ZEEL's revenue from advertising during Q3 of FY 2016-17 was up 3.43 per cent to Rs 955.45 crore as against Rs 923.69 crore, while subscription was up 13.73 per cent to Rs 593.46 crore as against Rs 521.79 crore.

ZEEL Chairman Subhash Chandra said: "Despite the impact of demonetization, we have delivered growth in advertising revenues and growth in subscription revenues remained strong. We believe the adverse impact of demonetization is transient and with a strong portfolio of national and regional channels we are confident of delivering sustainable growth."

Stocks of ZEEL was trading at Rs 480.00 on BSE at 15:21 hrs, down 0.62 per cent from previous close.