Q4 results: Zee Entertainment reports loss at ₹104 crore, says war in West Asia impacted ad spend

Media company Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) on 19 May reported Q4 loss at ₹104 crore, citing lower advertising spend from clients amid the war in West Asia, according to a PTI report.

“Advertising revenues for March were ‘severely impacted’ by the ongoing Middle East conflict as advertisers held back spends near the quarter-end,” Mukund Galgali, deputy CEO and chief financial officer of ZEE, said in a post-earnings call, as per a Reuters report.

For most broadcasters their biggest source of revenue is usually advertisements.

Zee's ad revenue, which accounts for nearly 40% of the total, fell 3.5% in the quarter. Without the Middle East war in the picture, ad revenue would have likely grown in the low single digits, Galgali added, as per the report.

Zee runs channels including ZeeTV and ZeeCinema as well as the streaming platform Zee5. It's higher spending was attributed to increased content, including the launch of children's vertical KidZ, as well as increased legal expenses, as per the Reuters report.

Zee Q4 results: The numbers

• Zee reported a consolidated net loss of ₹103.7 crore for the March quarter of FY26, on account of higher expenses, as per the PTI report.
• It had posted a net profit of ₹188.4 crore in the January-March period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing.

• Total income dropped 5.36% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹2,101.1 crore in the quarter under review, it added.
• Total expenses stood at ₹2,341.8 crore against ₹1,958.4 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25. This was up on account of “higher A&P (advertising and promotion) spends due to increased content offering (YoY) on Zee5, launch of KidZ and higher legal costs,” said ZEEL in its investor presentation.
• In the quarter under review, ZEEL's revenue from Advertising was down 3.5% at ₹808 crore impacted by the West Asia crisis in March, following a healthy traction in January and February.
• However, its subscription revenue increased 3.87% to ₹1,024.7 crore in the fourth quarter, aided by subscriber additions in digital and higher Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

• Revenue from other sales and services was down 46.65% at ₹192 crore in the quarter, on account of "syndication offset by studios business".
• In the entire FY26, ZEEL's net profit dropped 60% to ₹271.3 crore. Total income remained nearly flat at ₹8,245 crore.

Peer Sun TV will report its quarterly results on Thursday.

Zee to give dividend: What we know

Meanwhile, in a separate filing, ZEEL informed stock exchanges that its board, in a meeting held on Tuesday, recommended a dividend of ₹2 per equity share of Re 1 each for financial year 2025-26.

Shares of ZEEL settled at ₹87.68 apiece on the BSE, up 3.58% from the previous close.

(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)