BENGALURU: An early Diwali and an errant client dampened Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL, Mirchi) consolidated numbers for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, quarter under review) as compared to its year ago quarter numbers (y-o-y). Mirchi’s consolidated operating revenue for Q3 2018 declined 1.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 148.42 crore from Rs 150.65 crore.  Consolidated profit after tax (PAT) declined 19.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 13.16 crore from Rs 16.42 crore. Consolidated EBIDTA (excluding other income) declined 6.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 35.63 crore (24.2 percent margin) from Rs 38.14 crore (25.4 percent margin).

Commenting on the results, ENIL MD and CEO Prashant Panday said: “While our revenues dropped a notch, it was because of some issues with one single client. Had that not happened, we would have reported a 4.6 percent growth. Fortunately, the issue has been resolved recently. There was also the impact of early Diwali which advanced as much as Rs 12 crore from this quarter into the previous one. With all this behind us, we remain confident about rapid revenue and profit growth in FY 2019 and beyond. We are delighted that our new Phase-3 stations have started making a profit within just a year and a half of launch!”

Let us look at the other numbers reported by ENIL

ENIL’s consolidated total expenditure for the current quarter declined 1 percent y-o-y to Rs 130.14 crore from Rs 131.40 crore. Consolidated license fee declined 0.6 percent y-o-y in Q3 2018 to Rs 8.77 crore from Rs 8.82 crore. Consolidated employee benefits expense in the quarter under review declined 9.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 26.11 crore from Rs 28.76 crore.

ENIL’s consolidated programming and royalty expenses in the quarter increased 2 percent y-o-y to Rs 6.99 crore from Rs 6.85 crore. Consolidated marketing expenses in Q3 2018 increased 1.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 34.32 crore from Rs 33.95 crore.

Consolidated finance costs in Q3 2018 declined 69.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 1.25 crore from Rs 4.15 crore. Consolidated other expenses in the quarter under review increased 7.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 36.61 crore from Rs 34.14 crore.