Zee Q1 net profit dips 95 per cent to Rs 29 crore, Subhash Chandra to be Chairman Emeritus

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 18 : Zee Entertainment Enterprises on Tuesday posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 29 crore for the quarter ended June, down 95 per cent from Rs 530 crore in Q1 FY20.
In another development, Additional Director R Gopalan was appointed as the Chairman of the board of directors after Subhash Chandra resigned as the Non-Executive Director after 27 years of founding the company. He will continue as Chairman Emeritus from tomorrow.
In regulatory filings, Zee said its total income in the April to June quarter dipped by 36 per cent to Rs 1,338 crore from Rs 2,112 crore in the same period a year ago. Advertisement revenues dropped by 64 per cent to Rs 421 crore from Rs 1,187 crore.
Zee said there has been a strong bounce back in viewership shares across the network post COVID-19 lockdown and the broadcaster enjoys 19.2 per cent all-India entertainment share over the last four weeks.
Its domestic subscription revenues grew by 6.2 per cent on a higher base, primarily led by Zee5 subscription revenue.
In accordance with government directives, COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have started to relax, enabling content production to commence. This is expected to result in an increase in business activity for the group, the company said.
The group has also taken various steps aimed at augmenting liquidity, conserving cash including various cost-saving initiatives and sale of non-core and other assets.