Dish TV Q1 net profit falls 64% to Rs 17.85 crore; revenue down 17%

Direct-to-home firm Dish TV India on Tuesday reported a 63.67 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 17.85 crore in the April-June quarter of FY 23, citing impact of inflation on subscribers.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 49.14 crore in the same quarter a year ago, Dish TV said in a BSE filing.

Its revenue from the operation fell 16.73 per cent to Rs 608.63 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 730.97 crore in the corresponding quarter.

Dish TV's total expenses were at Rs 589.70 crore, down 12.35 per cent in Q1 FY23, as against Rs 672.80 crore in the corresponding quarter.

"The first quarter of the current fiscal to some extent was an extension of the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal. Not only did inflation-linked cautiousness in viewers remain intact, but the changing landscape of the entertainment industry also continued to influence subscriber retention and growth," Dish TV said its earnings statement.

External factors dominated and impacted the recharge behaviour of DTH subscribers with top-end consumers swapping between DTH and streaming content and bottom-end subscribers alternating between free-to-air and pay DTH, thus affecting revenues and net base, it added.

During the April-June quarter, Dish TV's subscription revenues were down 18.1 per cent at Rs 545.3 crore as against Rs 665.9 crore in Q1 FY22.

Its advertisement revenue in April-June of FY23 was down 30.2 per cent at Rs 8.1 crore as against Rs 11.5 crore.

Revenue from 'additional marketing, promotional fee and bandwidth charges' stood at Rs 40.8 crore as against Rs 38.3 crore.

Dish TV is gradually diversifying into a content distribution platform with multiple video streaming apps (OTT) in addition to linear TV content through its hybrid set-top-box.

"The company's focus on paying down debt, like earlier years, should continue unabated and going as per plan, Dish TV India should be close to a net debt free company by the end of the current fiscal," it added.