11-year-old Dish TV makes its first ever profit, scrip soars 14%

DTH service provider Dish TV India Ltd on Tuesday reported standalone net profit of Rs 35.01 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015, coming into the black for the first time in 11 years of existence. The company had posted <g data-gr-id="28">net</g> loss of Rs 149.05 crore for the January-March period of the previous fiscal, 2013-14, Dish TV said in a filing to the BSE. As a result, shares of direct-to-home service provider Dish TV India surged over 14 per cent after the company reported <g data-gr-id="27">standalone</g> net profit of Rs 35 crore.

The scrip zoomed 14.21 per cent to settle at Rs 96.85 on the BSE. In the intra-day, it gained as much as 15.74 per cent to Rs 98.15 -- its 52-week high. Dish TV net income from <g data-gr-id="26">operation</g> on standalone basis during the quarter under review was Rs 752.49 crore, up 18.53 per cent, as against Rs 634.85 crore in the year-ago period. Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor told PTI: “This is a turning point for us. We have been improving quarter after quarter. We have been focusing on increasing the average revenue per user (ARPU)...”

During 2014-15 fiscal, Dish TV reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3.14 crore as against a net loss of Rs 157.61 crore in the year-ago period. Dish TV’s net sales/income from operation during fiscal 2014-15 was Rs 2,773.20 crore, up 10.97 per cent, compared with Rs 2,499.04 crore a year ago.

“ARPU has increased now to Rs 174 this fiscal. Moreover, we have added 1.5 millions of new subscribers and the profitability has increased due to measures as price increase and differential pricing. This gave a boost of 11 per cent in our operating revenue,” Kapoor said. Dish TV has introduced differential pricing after successful absorption of higher pack prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata. It has now extended it to 38 cities covered under digitisation, he added.