(31 July 2009 9:55 pm)

MUMBAI: Essel Group's direct-to-home (DTH) company Dish TV has reduced its first-quarter loss as revenue and subscriber growth stayed upbeat despite a slowdown in the economy.

Net loss at Rs 692.07 million was significantly lower than a loss of Rs 1.25 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Dish TV, which added 0.44 million new subscribers in the quarter, reported a 53 per cent jump in total income to Rs 2.52 billion.

The company expects revenue to accelerate particularly from the third and fourth quarters as it targets a turnover of Rs 12.50 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2010.

Dish TV continued to be EBITDA positive for the second consecutive quarter and expects to achieve full-fiscal break even in FY'11.

Says Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra, "Despite a weaker economic climate, the DTH segment continued to grow at a strong pace. Our revenues grew exponentially and we achieved positive EBITDA for second successive quarter. These results are a direct outcome of our business strategy that is tuned to the needs of our customers."

The quarter's ARPU (average revenue per user) was lower at Rs 142, compared to Rs 164 in the same quarter last year. For the previous fiscal, Dish TV's ARPU was Rs 146.

"In a downturn period, subscribers tend to reduce the package price. We are seeing early signs of economic revival and expect the average subscription revenue per user to grow to Rs 160 for the full-fiscal," says a source in the company.

Dish TV has reached a subscriber base of 5.51 million and expects this to touch 7.5 million in FY'10. Dish TV claims a 40 per cent share in a five-player market serviced by 800 distributors and 48,000 dealers across 6,600 towns in India.

Total expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 3.01 billion, as against Rs 2.76 billion a year ago. Dish TV said its average subscriber acquisition cost was Rs 2487.

Dish TV has a debt of Rs 10 billion and is planning to raise up to $150 million via foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).