Zee Entertainment Q2 profit rises 26% to Rs 236.31 crore

Essel Group company Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) today reported a 26.03 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 236.31 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2013.

The company had registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 187.49 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, ZEEL said in a filing with the BSE.

Consolidated total income stood at Rs 1,101.28 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 953.50 crore during the same period of 2012-13.

"While overall business environment has stayed slightly weak, ZEEL continued to grow its business at a healthy pace. There was apprehension about the trends in advertising spends given the overall weakness in the economy. But the television media industry has continued to grow in double digits during the second quarter," ZEEL chairman Subhash Chandra said.

ZEEL's total consolidated revenue from advertising also grew 10.45 per cent to Rs 583.30 crore during the quarter as against Rs 528.08 crore in the same period last fiscal, the company said.

The company's consolidated revenue from subscription also increased to Rs 458.12 crore this quarter. It was Rs 394.95 crore in the year-ago period.

In the first half of the fiscal, ZEEL's consolidated net profit increased by 33.58 per cent to Rs 460.18 crore as against Rs 344.49 crore in the year-ago period.

Consolidated total income in in the first half also increased to Rs 2,074.53 crore as against Rs 1,796.46 crore in the same period last year.

The company's shares were trading at Rs 258.55 a piece during the afternoon trade at BSE, up 2.11 per cent from their previous close.