Sun TV Q3 FY2021 revenues up 19%; but ad revenues dip 9.4% amid COVID crisis

Sun TV Network, which operates satellite television channels across five languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bangla, airs FM radio stations across India, and owns the SunRisers Hyderabad cricket franchise of the Indian Premier League, and OTT platform Sun NXT, has reported revenues of Rs 972.34 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020 as against Rs 814.97 crore in Q3 FY2020, a growth of ~19%.

On the other hand, advertising revenues saw degrowth of 9.4% to Rs 300 crore, which was attributed to local retailers curtailing their ad spends and almost no new movie releases happening amid the COVID-19 disruption. Moreover, as per reports, Sun TV also lost viewership share in the Tamil GEC space, especially during the primetime.

The subscription revenues for the quarter were up by ~3% at Rs 424.05 crore as against Rs 411.85 crore for the corresponding quarter ended December 31, 2019. The EBITDA grew by ~4% at Rs 600.68 crore for the current quarter as against Rs 580.36 crore during Q3 FY2020. Profit Before Taxes for the third quarter grew ~19% to Rs 592.62 crore, as against Rs 498.46 crore in Q3 FY2020.

Profit After Taxes for Q3 FY2021 grew by ~18% to Rs 441.82 crore, compared to Rs 373.45 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. After accounting for the other comprehensive income (net of taxes), the Total Comprehensive Income for the third quarter was up ~18% at Rs 441.67 crore, as against Rs 373.26 crore for Q3 FY2020.

The Earnings Per Share for the current quarter grew by ~18% at Rs 11.21 as against Rs 9.48 for the corresponding quarter ended December 31, 2019.