ZEE TELEFILMS LIMITED ZEE REPORTS CONSOLIDATED REVENUES OF RS 3,075 MILLION, UP 10.2% OPERATING PROFIT INCREASED BY 13.7% TO RS 1,077 MILLION NET PROFIT INCREASED BY 36% to RS 709 MILLION 3Q FY2003 - Highlights! Advertisement revenue was Rs 1,710 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2002, a marginal decline of 2.4% as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.! Subscription revenue was Rs 1,242 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2002, an increase of 42.7% as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.! Domestic subscription revenue was Rs 378 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2002, an increase of 43.2% as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal and 2.5% increase as compared to the 2 nd quarter ended September 30, 2002.! International subscription revenue has grown by 34.7% over corresponding quarter last fiscal.! Operating Profits have increased by 13.7% in the third quarter ended December 31, 2002, as compared to the corresponding period in the last fiscal. Mumbai, India; January 28, 2003 Zee Telefilms Limited (ZEE.BO, ZEE.NS) today reported third quarter consolidated revenues of Rs 3,075 million, a 10.2% growth over the corresponding period in the previous fiscal and the consolidated operating profit has increased by 13.7% to Rs 1,077 million over the same period last year. The growth was largely driven by higher pay revenues from domestic market. Net Profit for the third quarter of the fiscal 2003 was Rs 709 million, an increase of 36% as compared to the corresponding quarter last year. These numbers are after consolidating the financials of ETC Networks Limited for the third quarter of FY2003. The Board of Directors in its meeting held today, has taken on record the unaudited consolidated financial results of Zee Telefilms Limited and its subsidiaries. Zee Telefilms Limited Chintamani Plaza, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 099, India Tel: +91 22 5697 1234
Mr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman and Managing Director, stated At the end of September, we announced that that our priority objective was to streamline the organizational resources and to improve the programming content across businesses. I am happy to state that we have a very focused team in place and our new programming initiatives have been well received across the businesses, whether it was Zee TV, Zee News, Zee Cinema or Alphas. Clearly, the strength of our assets combined with the talent and commitment of our team has resulted in good performance. Despite a very tough advertising market due to the continued slowness of the consumer economy, we have been able to broadly maintain advertising revenues. Zee s subscription revenue has made significant strides, as affirmed by us in the past also, both from the domestic and international markets, with a strong increase of 43.2% over the corresponding period last year. At Zee, we remain positive about our ability to convert the emerging opportunities into operating profits, especially with CAS now becoming a reality. This is poised to power subscription revenues, till now suffering from channel infirmities. The company is pursuing with determination its target of creating value for all its shareholders. Condensed statement of operations The table below presents the condensed statement of operations for Zee Telefilms Limited and its subsidiaries for the third quarter of FY2003 versus FY2002. Third quarter (Rs million) FY2003 FY2002 % Growth Operating Revenues 3,075 2,791 10.2 Expenditure 1,998 1,843 8.4 Operating Income 1,077 947 13.7 Add: Other Income 175 167 5.0 Depreciation 71 61 16.7 Finance Expenses 227 231 (2.0) Profit before Tax 955 822 16.1 Provision for Tax 246 301 (18.4) Profit After Tax 709 521 36.0 Revenue Streams Zee s revenues are generated primarily from advertising sales and subscription revenues. Other sales and services include revenues from film production and distribution, music publishing, syndication and education sales. The following table sets forth the percentage of Page 2 of 6
revenues that each type contribute to consolidated revenues for the third quarter of 2003 and 2002. Third quarter % of total revenues (Rs million) FY2003 FY2002 FY2003 FY2002 Advertising revenue 1,710 1,753 55.6 62.8 Subscription revenue 1,242 870 40.4 31.2 Other sales and services 123 167 4.0 6.0 Total Revenues 3,075 2,791 100.0 100.0 Zee s advertising revenues (excluding ETC) have declined by 8.9% as compared to the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The market continued to be sluggish and remained very competitive during the festival season. The advertising spends were tighter compared to the previous year. Yet, the Thursday Premier initiative has helped in arresting a possible slide. Overall subscription revenues, including domestic and international businesses, registered an increase of 42.7% over the third quarter of the corresponding period last fiscal. Domestic pay revenues have shown a steady growth and were 43.2% higher than the corresponding period last year and 2.5% higher than the second quarter of FY2003. Paid connectivity of Zee bouquet is 4.5 million homes. Further, Zee Turner has increased the price of the pay bouquet to Rs 50 w.e.f. January 2003. This price increase will result in a stronger growth in domestic pay revenues during the fourth quarter. Expenditure Zee s main expenses include transmission and programming cost, employee cost and administrative cost. Transmission cost is more or less stable while programming cost has gone up by 18% largely due to higher pay channel costs at Siticable. However, programming cost in the content & broadcasting segment has declined during the third quarter as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal. Continued rationalization of the workforce as a result of improved efficiency has led to reduction in the total employee strength to around 1,500 at the end of third quarter of FY2003. Due to settlements, the reduction does not fully show through in personnel costs this quarter and the benefit is expected to reflect fully in the coming quarters. Other costs including marketing and administrative costs have grown by a marginal 0.7% due to stringent focus on bringing down overheads. Page 3 of 6
The following table sets forth the percentage of costs that each type contribute to consolidated expenses for the third quarter of 2003 and 2002. Third quarter % of total expenses (Rs million) FY2003 FY2002 FY2003 FY2002 Transmission & Programming cost 1,117 962 55.9 55.2 Employee cost 172 177 8.6 9.6 Other expenses 709 704 35.5 38.2 Total Expenses 1,998 1,843 100.0 100.0 Segment Performance The Company is a diversified entertainment company with a multi-pillar approach to business. Its operations lie in three key segments: (i) Content and broadcasting, (ii) Access and (iii) Education. Content and broadcasting: During the quarter, Zee TV very successfully carried out its novel initiative of Thursday Premiere in which it showcased new movies every week on prime time. The list of movies included The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Mujhe Kuch Kahna Hai, Om Jai Jagdish, Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein. The viewers' response was extremely encouraging to this strategy. Zee Channel also saw the launch of two new soaps Astitva and Piya Ka Ghar, which have been well received. Zee Cinema continues to maintain leadership in the movie segment. The Ek Ka Teen Premiere promotion has met with resounding success. The channel has strengthened its position through constant acquisition of better titles and increasing reach through better connectivity. Zee News has surged strongly and regained market share. In several geographical segments it has attained the no.1 position in India and vies for an overall no.1 position with its main competitor. It has consistently managed to break leading stories with its Sabse Pehle initiative. Alpha Channels have continued to penetrate deeper into the local viewership and have strengthened their connectivity and reach. Alpha channels continue to strengthen the community connect with increased emphasis on local news coverage and news-on-the-hour and these initiatives have been well received. Zee continued to add to its subscriber base in its international operations. During the third quarter, new subscribers were added in USA, Europe, Middle East and other parts of South East Asia. ETC Alpha Punjabi has managed to get more than 12,000 subs in UK in the short time since its launch in August 2002 and is poised to grow. Page 4 of 6
Access: During the quarter, Siticable (a 100% subsidiary of Zee) has streamlined its operations by consolidating its businesses in the major cities. It now serves 38 cities through 68 headends. The pay channel costs have gone up substantially in Siticable, which could not be matched by increase in retail subscription. Siticable is in the process of implementing the Digital Headend In The Sky (Digital HITS) technology for distributing television broadcast signals in the CAS regime. Trials have been conducted for implementation of addressability in the network. There has been a change in Zee Turner s bouquet during the end of third quarter. While HBO moved out of the distribution platform effective January 1 2003, CNBC will be joining the platform w.e.f. April 1 2003. Another new channel Reality TV is likely to join the platform w.e.f. February 1 2003. Education: During the third quarter, ZILS has scaled down its operations. At this level of operations, ZILS is self-sufficient and almost achieving cash break-even. The table below presents Zee s third quarter performance for FY2003 versus FY2002 in the key segments. Third quarter revenues % of total revenues (Rs million) FY2003 FY2002 FY2003 FY2002 Content and broadcasting * 2,638 2,397 85.8 85.9 Access # 461 370 15.0 13.2 Education 49 85 1.6 3.0 Intercompany eliminations (72) (61) (2.3) (2.2) Total Revenues 3,075 2,791 100.0 100.0 * Content Business includes all Broadcasting and content production companies in India and abroad of Zee Telefilms Limited and ETC Networks Limited. # Access Business includes Siticable, Elzee, Zee Turner and Econnect. Business outlook In the fourth quarter of FY2003, there is low visibility in the advertising revenue scenario because of the Cricket World Cup. There could be an impact on the business of Zee because of shift of advertising revenues to cricket, particularly during the duration of the cricket matches. The Company remains confident of the continued expansion in subscription revenues. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India has notified July 14 th 2003 as the deadline for implementation of Conditional Access System (CAS) in the four metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The Company is working towards implementing the Page 5 of 6
Digital Headend In The Sky (Digital HITS) model for CAS through its subsidiary Siticable. It hopes to reinforce its leadership position in the distribution business in India. The Company believes that the implementation of CAS will result in a dramatic shift in the way revenues are distributed between various players in the television broadcasting value chain. Broadcasters would be able to capture 50-55% of the total consumer spend on television (at present approximately Rs 60 billion). Multi System Operators (MSOs) would get a commission from broadcasters ranging between 15-20%, while cable operators would get a FTA fees and delivery margins from pay channels ranging between 20-25%. The company expects that STBs would mainly be funded by the consumers directly or would be funded by retail consumer financing. Digital STBs priced between Rs 3,500-4,000 would be made available to the consumers. The implementation of CAS on a countrywide basis may take three-four years. About Zee Zee is India s largest vertically integrated media and entertainment company. It is the largest producer and aggregator of Hindi programming in the world with an extensive library housing television content, movie titles and news content. Zee is also India s largest cable distributor through its wholly owned subsidiary, Siticable. Zee s channels are widely distributed across many countries, especially for South Asian audiences. It is a significant player in the film production, music publishing and education business. Zee s well known brands include Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee News, Zee Music, Alpha Marathi, Alpha Punjabi, Alpha Bangla, Alpha Gujarati, Zee English, Zee MGM. More information about Zee and its businesses is available at www.zeetelevision.com. Page 6 of 6