(22 January 2009 11:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Dish TV has posted a net loss of Rs 1.18 billion for the quarter ended 31 December 2008, as against a net loss of Rs 1.16 billion in the year-ago period.

Dish TV, the market leader with 4.8 million subscribers, has reported a 72 per cent jump in gross sales and operating revenues to Rs 1.93 billion for the quarter under review, compared to Rs 1.12 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The DTH service provider has added 789,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter with average subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) of Rs 2,832.

DTH revenue fetched Rs 1.88 billion, teleport services earned Rs 36 million, while trading contributed Rs 16 million to the third quarter of FY'09.

Dish TV's expenditure surged 34 per cent from Rs 2.15 billion to Rs 2.89 billion during this period.

Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra said, "Despite the fierce competition, Dish TV consolidated its number one industry position with a very strong 48 per cent market share."

Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel added, "The DTH sector is witnessing an unprecedented and explosive growth and Dish TV is fully equipped with all key resources in place to maintain its leadership position in this growth phase."

Dish TV has added 12 new channels on its platform in the quarter, which includes general entertainment channels, regional channels and news channels.

To increase the ARPU, Dish TV launched a premiere channel on its movie on demand service to broadcast Hollywood and Bollywood movies on this channel within weeks of their theatrical release. Dish TV premiered Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye in 3.5 weeks of its theatrical release.

The company said that the increase in SAC is due to depreciation of rupee which impacted import of set-top-box (STB) and other related equipments. Also, EBIDTA is impacted to the extent of Rs 80 million due to losses on account of mark to market provision.

The company said that it would focus on increase in ARPU, value added services, commercial sales (like hotels, restaurants, pubs, clubs, malls etc), brand building and penetration and service capability ramp up.