Siti Cable turns PAT positive; EBITDA up 92% YOY; revenue up 30% YOY

Siti Cable Network, an Essel Group Company, has announced profitable turnaround for the first time in its history, with Profit Before Tax of Rs 22 crore. EBITDA also increased by 92 per cent year-on year, which is highest ever in a financial year for the company. Siti Cable’s Revenue increased to Rs 1,213 crore, up 30 per cent year-on-year. The company expects to maintain a strong growth trajectory going forward.

Siti Digital: Siti Cable has been vigorously participating in the Digital India movement by digitising analog TV homes in DAS Phase 3 areas and added over 1.1 million digital customer base during Q4 FY16, and over 2.7 million digital customers during FY16, taking the digital video base to 7.9 million exit March 2016. The company expanded its footprint to 312 cities across the country with nearly 200 cities being rolled out during FY16. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Siti Cable crossed 1.5 Mn+ digital customer base.

Acquisitions: Siti Cable adopted the inorganic growth route and acquired majority stake in regional MSOs in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha and Assam for DAS Phase 3 & 4 expansion.

Siti HD+: Siti Cable strengthened its Siti HD+ services by offering over 45 HD channels during FY16. Eight new HD channels are in the pipeline for rollout in the near future. Siti HD+ customer base increased to 50,170, up 42 per cent over Q3 FY16.

Siti Broadband: The company’s broadband operations added 2.2 lakh home passes in the quarter taking the total footprint to 8.9 lakh homes. Broadband customer base also grew to ~1.32 lakh by Q4 FY16 exit, up 120 per cent year-on-year. 
Promoter Funding: During Q4 FY16, promoters infused funds amounting to Rs 530 crore, re-affirming the Siti Cable growth story and commitment to create sustainable value for all stakeholders. This was the first tranche of the previously announced Rs 680 crore announced earlier. The Reserve Bank of India had also hiked the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/ Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) investment limit in the company, which allows the foreign funds to aggressively participate up to 49 per cent of the paid up capital of the company.

Credit Rating Upgraded: Recently, credit rating agency ICRA upgraded the long-term rating of Siti Cable to [ICRA]A- from [ICRA]BBB+. Further, ICRA pronounced [ICRA]AA+ outstanding rating on the term loan facility of Siti Cable. The outlook on the ratings is ‘stable’.

While commenting on the results, VD Wadhwa, Executive Director & CEO, Siti Cable, mentioned, “Our strategy of tighter control on cost lines and improving monetisation has started yielding results and the company’s profitable turnaround, first time in 20 years, is a testament to that. As a part of our strategy, we are working on gaining industry leadership through organic and inorganic growth. Having expanded in DAS Phase 3, our biggest challenge in FY17 will be monetisation. We are well positioned to scale up our broadband operations aggressively in new geographies in FY17.”