Sun Direct FY21 revenue up 4% to Rs 1567 crore

Direct to home (DTH) operator Sun Direct's total revenue from operations has increased 4% to Rs 1567 crore for the fiscal ended 31st March 2021 from Rs 1513 crore in the previous fiscal, according to financial data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler. 

Sun Direct's net profit zoomed 271% to Rs 250 crore from Rs 67.47 crore. The company's total expenses decreased 8.44% to Rs 1334 crore during the fiscal under review from Rs 1457 crore. As of 31st March 2021, Sun Direct had a 17.07% (11.87 million) share of the total active subscriber base of the pay DTH sector which stood at 69.57 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report.

In March 2020, the DTH operator had a 14.53% (10.2 million) share of the total active subscriber base of 70.26 million. The DTH operator added 1.67 million active subscribers in FY21.

Comparatively, Tata Sky had seen a flat growth in consolidated revenue at Rs 4,682 crore for the fiscal ended 31st March 2021 as against Rs 4,681 crore in the previous fiscal. The company, which had 23.16 million active subscribers as of 31st March, posted a net profit of Rs 68.75 crore against a net loss of Rs 234.1 crore. Total expenses stood at Rs 4,578.26 as against Rs 4,611.2 crore.

Direct to home (DTH) operator Dish TV has reported an 8.6% decline in operating revenues to Rs 3249.4 crore in FY21 from Rs 3556.3 crore in the previous fiscal. Expenditure for the fiscal had dropped 15% to Rs 1232.4 crore from Rs 1450.4 crore. The company's net loss narrowed 28.1% to Rs 1189.9 crore from Rs 1654.8 crore.

Bharti Telemedia, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, had reported a 4.2% increase in revenue from operations at Rs 3075.4 crore compared to Rs 2951 crore. Expenses increased 12.2% to Rs 1041 crore from Rs 927 crore. Net profit dropped 32% to Rs 264.3 crore as against Rs 386 crore. Airtel Digital TV had ended the fiscal with 17.7 million subscribers.

According to a Crisil report, Sun Direct's cash and equivalents stood at over Rs 200 crore as of March 31, 2021, and cash accrual is expected at over Rs 700 crore in fiscal 2022 and Rs 850 crore in fiscal 2023. This should comfortably cover the planned Capex of Rs 550- 650 crore per fiscal, over the medium term.

In April 2021, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had issued provisional licences for 20 years to DTH operators including Sun Direct, subject to their fulfilling the terms and conditions mentioned in the guidelines issued by the ministry on December 30, 2020, for licence renewal.

MIB had already sent a demand notice to the DTH operators in December 2020, for clearing all dues and fulfilling obligations under the terms and conditions of the current licence as well as those arising out of legal cases pending before various courts of law, however, the issue continues to be sub judice.

As per the demand notice, Sun Direct has a potential liability of Rs 550-600 crore arising from the disputed licence fees matter. Chennai-based Sun Direct began operations in December 2007. Maran Group holds 80% equity in Sun Direct and the remaining is held by South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd, Mauritius, an investment arm of All Asia Networks Plc, Malaysia's leading cross-media group.