NXTDIGITAL today announced its results for the third quarter and the nine-month period of the current financial year – a period that continued to see the significant impact of the COVID pandemic on the media and entertainment industry.
On a consolidated basis, the revenue for the quarter ending December 31, 2020, stood at Rs 259.90 crores, recording a growth of 10.24% over the revenue of the previous quarter of Rs 235.76 crores. The Earnings before Interest Depreciation and Taxes (EBIDTA) for the quarter stood at Rs 62.48 crores against Rs 51.69 crores in the previous quarter recording a growth of 20.85%, growing at a rate higher than the rate of growth in revenue.
THE operating EBIDTA margin for the quarter stood at 24.04% as compared to 21.93% in the previous quarter and 17.00% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (excluding one-time revenues). Overall, the quarterly performance ended on a strong note with a positive Profit after Tax (PAT).
For the nine-month period on a consolidated basis, the Company recorded a very healthy Operating EBIDTA of Rs 149.76 crores as compared to Rs 140.37 crores (excluding one-time revenues) thereby clocking a growth of 6.69%. Operating EBIDTA margin for the nine-month period stood at20.90% as compared to 18.50% for the corresponding nine months of the previous year (excluding the one-time revenue).
Performance Drivers
NXTDIGITAL continued its integrated approach in Q3; on the back of several initiatives launched over the preceding quarters and fine-tuned against the changing business environment and challenges. These initiatives included…
Focusing on innovative packaging to drive ARPU growth. The growth in ARPUs in DAS III markets – one of NXTDIGITAL’s key markets validates the initiatives, seeing ARPUs grow by around 10% against Q3 of last fiscal.
Enhanced focus on cross-selling and leveraging the subscriber base to grow broadband penetration. This is reflected in the broadband customer base growing past half a million subscribers in Q3 – a growth of 26.2% over Q2 and a robust growth of 71.1% over Q3 of the previous fiscal.
Maintaining Key Performance Indices during Q3, in spite of the challenging environment. “90-day net churn” and “On-Time Renewal” stayed stable in Q3 at 1.9% and 76.3% respectively. However, both indices performed better than last fiscal, which was at 2.1% and 72.0% respectively.
Commenting on the Q3 performance, Vynsley Fernandes, Media Group Chief Executive Officer, NXTDIGITAL Ltd. said “The organization laid greater emphasis on implementation of the converged media strategy in the quarter gone by. We looked to leverage our video subscriber base to grow our broadband business whilst driving cross-selling and strategic alliance partnerships in key cities. Our deeper engagement with our franchisees and a focus on providing innovative packaging has continued to keep us on the growth course, especially in key semi-urban markets where we have a significant presence.”
Vision for Growth
NXTDIGITAL today connects 5.52 million video subscriber homes in 1500+ cities and towns across India through its digital cable television (CATV) and Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) platforms, served by over 9,000 LCOs. It will continue to focus on consolidating and growing its serviced subscriber base – across video and broadband, whether directly or through its infrastructure sharing business model, which continues to see significant traction. The company is focused on leveraging its investments in technology to support other multi-system operators who are not just looking to pare rising connectivity costs but also improve the quality of service to their subscribers.
In parallel, NXTDIGITAL will continue to enable its own potential growth markets with High-Speed-Internet & digital platform services, through its network of franchisees; offering subscribers a range of digital services through a single wire.
