Film and TV production
Chennai-based films company GV Films Ltd posted the highest Ebidta growth of 217.87% between 2003 and 2007 in compounded terms, while television content producer Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd figured at the opposite end of the profitability spectrum with a corresponding figure of 5.40%. And in terms of profitability, in 2007, film producer Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd enjoyed the highest Ebidta margin of 84% while television content producer Radaan Mediaworks Ltd was at the bottom of the charts (10%).
The average 2007 Ebidta margin for the segment was 36%.
Print
Three of the largest print firms—Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd, Kasturi and Sons Ltd and DB Corp. Ltd, publishers of The Times of India, The Hindu and the Dainik Bhaskar, respectively, are privately held. So the segment-wide numbers for the print industry are at best qualified indicators of its performance. Of the firms that were considered, Cyber Media (India) Ltd, a publisher of speciality magazines such as Dataquest, posted the highest Ebidta growth of 37.49% between 2003 and 2007, while Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd, the Mumbai-based publisher of the Mid-Day tabloid, posted the lowest growth of 4.20%.
In 2007, Jagran Prakashan Ltd, the publisher of the Dainik Jagran, India’s largest read Hindi daily, posted the highest Ebidta margin of 25%, against a segment average of 22%, which was matched by HT Media Ltd, publisher of Mint. HT Media’s cumulative Ebidta growth for the five-year period was unavailable as the firm went public only in 2004.
“In print, the big worry is newsprint prices. Rising oil prices coupled with other factors could mean newsprint prices might stay high. I don’t think the print media firms have hedged themselves adequately and some of them, especially the smaller ones, may get hurt,” Balsara said.
Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd topped the charts with a compounded Ebidta growth of 346.82% during the period, while Adlabs Films Ltd was at the bottom with 6.79%.
Factors fuelling growth
The M&E sector benefits immensely from overall economic growth as people spent more on entertainment with rising incomes, said Aseem Vohra, a partner at audit and consulting firm Grant Thornton. “The M&E sector typically exceeds the growth rate of the economy. However, there are sector-wise challenges. But broadly, demand for entertainment is increasing and so are revenues from advertisements and subscription. Increased competition is going to bring in greater consistency in the quality of the content,” Vohra added.
The E&Y report on India has a positive outlook on the animation industry and predicts a rise in the number of initial public offerings, listings in the London-based Alternative Investment Market, and private equity investments.