DishTV posts reduced net profit of Rs 152.7 cr for December quarter

Essel Group direct-to-home arm DishTV Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 152.69 crore for the December 2018 quarter. The company, whose board on Tuesday approved an investment of up to Rs 3,000 crore in its wholly owned subsidiary Dish Infra Services Private Ltd, had posted a net loss of Rs 168.29 crore in the year-ago quarter, DishTV said in a BSE filing.

However, its total income was down 6.64 percent to Rs 1,529.57 crore during the third quarter under review, against Rs 1,638.50 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. DishTV's total expenses were also down 8.01 percent to Rs 1,483.13 crore, compared with Rs 1,612.36 crore a year ago.

Its subscription revenue was down 2.10 percent to Rs 1,412.6 crore, against Rs 1,443 crore in the December 2017 quarter. The firm added 1.42 lakh subscribers and closed the quarter with a net subscriber base of 2.36 crore.

On the outlook, DishTV India Group CEO Anil Dua said: "We are optimistic about exiting FY19 with a high single-digit growth in Ebitda considering back-to-back cricketing action during the fourth quarter and further realisation of synergie." Meanwhile, in a seperate filing, DishTV said its board in a meeting held on Tuesday approved an investment of Rs 3,000 crore in its wholly-owned subsidiary Dish Infra Services.

Dish Infra Services is engaged into the business of providing infrastructure and various back-end support services to DTH Service Providers and their subscribers along with the other ancillary services. It had a turnover of Rs 1,110.21 crore in FY18.

About integration of d2h brand into DishTV, the company said it is nearing completion. "A little over 10 months down the line from the merger, most of the merger-related integration at Dish TV India is nearing completion," it said. Shares of DishTV India Ltd on Tuesday settled at Rs 22.75 on the BSE, down 2.78 per cent from the previous close.

(With inputs from agencies.)