Hathway Broadband ARPU Dipped to Rs 650 in Q1 FY20

Highlights

• The broadband ARPU has declined in Q1 2020 to Rs 650 in Q1 2020 from Rs 690 in Q1 2019
• The CATV business saw a growth of 24% y-o-y to Rs 315.97 crore in this period from the previous Rs 254.91 crore

Hathway Cable and Datacom has released its financial report for the quarter ending June 2019. The financial statement of the company has highlighted 38% growth in subscription revenue from its cable TV business in this period as compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Also, as compared to the Q4 2019, in the Q1 FY20, the CATV subscription revenue was 28% higher. The report highlighted that the subscription revenue for the quarter ending June 2019 was Rs 216.7 crore, whereas, in the corresponding quarter a year ago, it was Rs 157.4 crore. Lastly, the same figure was noted to be Rs 169.9 crore in the trailing last quarter of FY19.

Placement Revenue and CATV Business Growth

Speaking of the placement revenue, in the Q1 FY20 the numbers grew by 5% YoY to Rs 78.7 crore from the previous figure of Rs 75.2 crores and increased 38% QoQ from Rs 58.2 crore. On the other hand, activation revenue declined 13% YoY to Rs 15.23 crores from Rs 17.6 crore with a QoQ 3% decline from Rs 15.7 crore. In its reports, Hathway has not mentioned the split of CATV and Broadband business.

Taking an overview, the CATV business saw a growth of 24% y-o-y to Rs 315.97 crore in this period from the previous Rs 254.91 crore thus witnessing a growth of 27.1% q-o-q from Rs 248.51 crore. The operating profit reported by the company stood at Rs 2.82 crore from the CATV business in the quarter ending in June. This was in contrast as compared to an operating loss of Rs 31.16 crore in Q1 2019 and an operating loss of Rs 333.89 crore for Q4 2019.

Reasons for High Losses in Q4 FY19

To recall, the high losses in the last quarter of FY2019 were due to exceptional items which the company had listed in its financial sheets and these costs ran up to Rs 410.74 crore. Hathway had also highlighted that these exceptional costs included impairment of trade receivables, advances and exposure to certain entities including joint ventures, write down to property plants and equipment and expenses relating to equity infusion. Hathway had also remarked that these exceptional items had one-time expense and had a non-routine material impact on financial statements says the company. This financial report from the cable TV service provider is also crucial because it is the first full quarter after the implementation of the new Trai tariff regime.

Hathway’s Financials from Broadband Business POV

Also, speaking of Hathway’s broadband business, which is now the fourth largest in the country, the company saw YoY revenue growth of 3.1% and a QoQ growth of 1%. In the Q1 2020, Q1 2019 and the trailing quarter, Hathway reported Rs 133.81 crore, Rs 129.8 crore and Rs 132.43 crore as broadband revenue respectively. Also, less than half the operating profit of Hathway came from its broadband business, and it was pegged at Rs 9.14 crore for Q1 2020 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 19.89 crore for Q1 2019. In contrast, Hathway had reported a loss of Rs 18.11 crore in the broadband business in the trailing quarter.

Hathway has also remarked that it has deployed 60 lakh set-top boxes and claims to have amassed 8.4 lakh broadband internet subscriber base at the end of the quarter under review. However, even with data consumption going up, the broadband ARPU has declined in Q1 2020 to Rs 650 in Q1 2020 from Rs 690 in Q1 2019 and from Rs 662 in Q4 2019.

As for the operating revenue, Hathway witnessed a growth of 16.9% YoY to Rs 449.78 crore from Rs 384.71 crore with an 18% QoQ growth from Rs 381.04 crore. The company’s EBITDA saw an increase of 15% YoY in its investor presentation for Q1 2020 to Rs 104.38 crore (23.2% margin) from Rs 90.5 crore (23.5% margin) and growth of 37% QoQ from Rs 76.1 crore (20% margin).