Zee Entertainment's Q3 profit more than doubles, boosted by subscriptions

BENGALURU, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Zee Entertainment Enterprises' third-quarter profit more than doubled as a pick-up in subscriptions offset a soft advertising environment, the Indian broadcaster reported on Tuesday, in its first results since its failed merger with Sony India.

Zee's profit rose to ₹58.5 crore ($7.05 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31 from ₹24.3 crore a year ago. Meanwhile, its operating revenue declined 3% YoY to ₹2,045 crore.

The results come weeks after Sony scrapped its merger with Zee, ending a deal that could have created one of India's biggest TV broadcasters, alleging breaches of contract.

Company’s domestic advertising revenue stood at ₹986 crore, up 4.9% compared to last quarter and down 2.7% YoY. Meanwhile, subscription revenue saw an uptick driven by pick up in linear subscription revenue post NTO 3.0 & ZEE5.

(This story has been published from the Reuters news feed without major editorial change.)