New Delhi: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has received shareholder approval to raise ₹2,000 crore, the company informed the stock exchanges on Monday.
“We hereby inform you that the shareholders of the company have duly passed the resolution for issuance of securities for an amount not exceeding ₹2,000 crore with requisite majority,” Zee said in a a letter to the exchanges.
During its recent earnings call, chief executive and managing director Punit Goenka had said that Zee was on track to achieving a balanced cost structure and improving its fiscal performance, targeting an 18-20% earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (ebitda) margin by 2025-26.
Following the collapse of its merger with Sony Pictures Entertainment in February, Zee said it was charting a three-pronged strategy focused on cost reduction, eliminating business overlaps, and enhancing quality to restore margins.
The company is also planning to lay off 15% of its workforce as part of a restructuring exercise to have a leaner management structure, amied at reducing costs.
For the quarter ended March, Zee Entertainment Enterprises reported a net profit of ₹13.35 crore, rebounding from a loss of ₹196 crore in the year-ago period, with total income rising 3% to ₹2,185 crore.
Domestic advertising revenue for the March quarter grew 10.6% year-on-year, driven by continued recovery in the macro advertising environment and higher spending by fast-moving consumer goods clients, Zee said.
Subscription revenue growth was driven by a pick-up in linear subscription revenue post new tariff order (NTO 3.0) and gains from its video-streaming platform ZEE5, it added.
Zee's board of directors also approved a new organisational framework proposed by Goenka, who will now oversee the company's domestic broadcast business directly, to leverage synergies among the core business segments, which include broadcast, digital, movies, and music.
Goenka also plans to take direct oversight of key business areas to encourage cross-functional collaboration.
Over the past few months, the company has seen a series of senior-level exits, including those of Rahul Johri, president of business; Punit Misra, president of content and international markets; Nitin Mittal, president and group chief technology officer; and Shariq Patel, chief business officer, Zee Studios.
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