KOLKATA: The Ekta Kapoor headed content production house Balaji Telefilms on Monday reported a consolidated revenue of Rs 78.3 crore in the second quarter, up 123 per cent from Rs 35.05 crore in the first quarter. The company has narrowed down EBIDTA to a negative Rs 12.4 crore from the negartive Rs 26.3 crore in the previous quarter. The company has posted a net loss of Rs 19.5 crore again an improvement over Rs 27.9 crore in Q1 2020.
In a regulatory filing, Balaji Telefilms has stated that content production has resumed slowly leading to higher production cost of Rs 60.5 crore. 176.5 hours of TV content have been produced in the quarter. Six shows were on air during the quarter and the company is expected to launch two new shows in the coming quarter.
“This quarter we took steps to restore our content production activity and have slowly returned to more normal levels of TV content production. The teams are adapting to the new processes of shooting and I am confident we will adapt quickly given our strength and successful track record. Our digital businesses had limited fresh content during the quarter but we have managed to get better engagement using our library of over 65 original shows. We will soon restart adding more shows to the platform as shows are ready for launch. Overall some of the cost optimization programs initiated should continue to allow us to see strong profitability as our operations return to pre-COVID levels,” Balaji Telefilms managing director Shobha Kapoor said.
Total Revenue for ALTBalaji stood at Rs 14.7 for the quarter compared to Rs 14.9 in the previous quarter. The OTT platform has witnessed a marginal uptick in international subscriptions as it is gaining traction globally. While average daily subscriber addition in the quarter has stood at 9000, average revenue per user (ARPU) remains between Rs 140 to Rs 150 a year.
The direct subscription revenue has witnessed a marginal de-growth as the country has slowly opened up and customers are returning back to work and social commitments. Moreover, revenue from its Zee5 deal has also resumed in the quarter. As there has been a huge change in content consumption trends, the recent lockdown has accelerated the shift of consumer base from tier 1 into non-metro and tier II or tier III towns and cities.
