GTPL Hathway Limited — Call Transcript 2025

Apr 22, 2025

Ref. No.: GTPL/SE/2025

April 22, 2025

BSE Limited

Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, Dalal Street, Mumbai 400 001

Scrip Code: 540602

National Stock Exchange of India Limited

Exchange Plaza, Plot No. C/1, G Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai – 400 051

Trading Symbol: GTPL

Dear Sirs,

Sub: Transcript of the Post Results Conference Call on Audited Financial Results (Standalone and Consolidated) for the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2025.

Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, transcript of the Post Results Conference Call on Audited Financial Results (Standalone and Consolidated) of the Company for the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2025, held on April 17, 2025, is available on the Company’s website at - https://webapi.gtpl.net/WebSiteImages/InvestorRelation/Financial_Results/2024 - - 2025/Q4/GTPLHathway%20Ltd.%20 %20Q4FY25%20Earnings%20Call%20 %20Transcript.pdf

The said transcript is also enclosed herewith.

Kindly take the same on record.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

For GTPL Hathway Limited

SHWETA Digitally signed by SHWETA SULTANIA SULTANIA Date: 2025.04.22 18:28:58 +05'30' Shweta Sultania

Company Secretary and Compliance Officer

Encl: As above

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“GTPL Hathway Limited

Q4 FY '25 Earnings Conference Call”

April 17, 2025

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– MANAGEMENT: MR. ANIRUDHSINH JADEJA PROMOTER AND – MANAGING DIRECTOR LIMITED GTPL HATHWAY LIMITED – MR. PIYUSH PANKAJ BUSINESS HEAD B2B AND – CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER GTPL HATHWAY LIMITED – MR. SAURAV BANERJEE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER – GTPL HATHWAY LIMITED – MODERATOR: MR. MOHIT DODEJA EMKAY GLOBAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED

GTPL Hathway Limited April 17, 2025

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Moderator:

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to GTPL Hathway Conference Call hosted by Emkay Global Financial Services Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing the star then zero on your touchtone phone.

I now hand the conference over to Mr. Mohit Dodeja from Emkay Global Financial Services Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Mohit Dodeja:

Good evening, everyone. I would like to welcome the management and thank them for this opportunity. We have with us today Mr. Anirudhsinh Jadeja, Promoter and Managing Director; Mr. Piyush Pankaj, Business Head, B2B and Chief Strategy Officer; and Mr. Saurav Banerjee, Chief Financial Officer.

I shall now hand over the call to Mr. Anirudhsinh Jadeja for his opening remarks. Over to you, sir.

Anirudhsinh Jadeja:

Good evening, everyone. A warm welcome to everybody to the Earnings Call of GTPL Hathway to discuss financial performance of Quarter 4 FY '25. We retain our position as the nation's largest MSO and are rapidly gaining ground as a significant player in the evolving fixed broadband market. Our business segments, cable TV and broadband continue to report stable financial and business performance.

Over the past financial year, we have been focused on launching consumer-centric products and services with a singular aim of providing better and complete viewing experience for our customers. In line with our consistent dividend paying policy for the financial year FY '25, the Board of Directors have recommended dividend of 20% of face value i.e. INR2 per share.

I now hand over the call to Mr. Piyush Pankaj, who will take you through the KPI for the cable TV and broadband segment, as well as highlight our efforts throughout the year.

Piyush Pankaj:

Thanks, Mr. Jadeja. Good evening, everyone. The usual KPIs for both the businesses are as follows: First, cable TV segment. Our Digital Cable TV subscriber base as on 31 March 2025 stood at 9.60 million. Among the total subscriber base, paying subscribers stood at 8.90 million. On an annual basis, the increase in both active and paying subscriber is 100K, respectively. In the broadband business, active subscriber base at the end of the quarter stood at 1.045 million, adding 25,000 new subscriber, which is an increase of 2% on a Y-o-Y basis.

Homepass stood at 5.95 million as of 31 March 2025, of which 75% are available for FTTX. Homepass grew by 2.5% on an annual basis, registering an increase of 150K on an absolute basis. The broadband ARPU for quarter 4 FY '25 stood at INR465, increased by INR5 as compared to FY '24. Average data consumption per month stood at 396 GB, an 11% increase Y-o-Y.

We are pleased to share that we have been awarded with the much anticipated HITS license, enabling us to operate and maintain HITS services for a period of 10 years. We will share more details on the HITS license and its accrued benefit once it is operationalized. However, I want

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to share that this new broadcasting mechanism will bring in significant efficiencies in terms of cost and reach going forward.

We constantly keep evaluating options for either organic or inorganic avenues for growth. We continue with our expansion plan in other states across India and want to increase our total addressable market. Broadband business will also continue to see rise in the subscriber count with our strong-standing relationships and network of LCOs and B2B partners and with the wide broadband penetration. Overall, our focus remains on efficiency, consumer acquisition and retention, driven by value-accretive products and services, leveraging technology and judicious use of our financial resources.

I will now hand over the call to Mr. Saurav Banerjee, CFO, who will take you through the financial performance of the company.

Saurav Banerjee:

Thank you, Mr. Piyush, and good evening to all participants. On a consolidated basis for the quarter, total revenue grew by a healthy 10% Y-o-Y to INR8,989 million. Subscription revenue stood at INR2,982 million and the broadband revenue grew by 4% Y-o-Y, standing at INR1,358 million. Consolidated reported EBITDA stood at INR1,144 million at an EBITDA margin of 12.7%. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was INR1,021 million with a margin of 22%. Net profit attributable to the parent stood at INR105 million.

Consolidated figures for FY '25 stood as follows: Total revenue grew by 8% annually to INR35,072 million; consolidated reported EBITDA stood at INR4,625 million at an EBITDA margin of 13.2%; operating EBITDA for FY '25 was INR4,163 million with a margin of 22%; net profit attributable to the parent was INR479 million.

On a stand-alone basis for the quarter, total revenue grew by 10% Y-o-Y and 1% Q-on-Q to INR5,693 million. Stand-alone reported EBITDA for the quarter was INR663 million at a margin of 11.7%. Operating EBITDA for the quarter was INR580 million, thus implying a margin of 23%. Net profit stood at INR80 million.

Stand-alone figures for FY '25 stood as following: Total revenue grew by 8% annually to INR22,230 million; reported EBITDA stood at INR2,658 million at an EBITDA margin of 12%; operating EBITDA for FY '25 was INR2,296 million at a margin of 23%; net profit for the period was INR477 million.

I would now request the moderator to open the floor for the Q&A session.

Moderator:

Varun Mishra:

Piyush Pankaj:

Varun Mishra:

Piyush Pankaj:

The first question is from the line of Varun Mishra from AS Group.

Yes. So I had a couple of questions. Firstly, could you comment something about the recent ongoing development on the National Broadband Mission 2.0?

Broadband mission?

Yes.

You're talking about the BharatNet project?

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Varun Mishra:

Yes, sir.

Piyush Pankaj: Yes. So BharatNet project, I think for...

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: I think within 15 days or within 30 days, we'll get APO from this BharatNet project for Haryana and L1 with consortium partner with LC Infra.

Piyush Pankaj: So we have participated in BharatNet project with LC Infra, and we are hoping that we are going to get the L1 with LC Infra within 30 or 45 days. Once we are there, then we will announce it.

Varun Mishra: Okay. All right. And my next question is, how do you believe that the government initiatives which have been taken regarding the broadband segment. So how do you feel this will help us with the expansion in the future?

Piyush Pankaj: We are very happy that government has started taking steps again to make the digital infrastructure, mainly the broadband infrastructure in every state. And in the early Phase 1 and Phase 2 situation, this project is not totally completed and the implementation has not happened on that level.

So now having the new for all the 15 states, 15 states and even the states which are independent, they are taking their steps. So this all are going to help the broadband infrastructure in the country, and it is going to help player like us who is depending upon the infrastructures created by third parties and the infrastructure created by us.

Varun Mishra: Okay, sir. All right. And sir, like have we received any orders from any government agencies for the same?

Piyush Pankaj: No, not now.

Varun Mishra: As of now, we haven't?

Piyush Pankaj: The orders are in the pipeline. And once we will get the order, we will do the press release and give information to SEBI. For the one with LC Infra also as the papers are not there, but we will announce it once it is going to come in our domain.

Moderator: The next question is from the line of Darshil Jhaveri from Crown Capital.

Darshil Jhaveri: Firstly, congratulations on a great set of results. So, sir, just wanted to get a bit of an idea how do we see FY '26 panning out? Any kind of revenue guidance and margin guidance? What do we see it as, sir?

Piyush Pankaj: See, we are looking forward that we will do better subscriber addition in FY '26 in both the business segments as we are changing the business structure also or you can say the delivery how we are going to deliver the signals in the market. In the broadband also, we are seeing that how we can expand more and more in the number of states plus how we deeply penetrate in Gujarat.

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So, we are looking forward that we are going to do better than what we did in FY '25 in the numbers. And same will reflect in our revenue and EBITDA. We are doing somewhere -- if you see the last 8 years, we are doing the revenue at 18% CAGR and EBITDA at 9% CAGR. We want to come back to that level in FY '26 that we do 18% of revenue at least and 9% of EBITDA CAGR. So that's the target which we are working on.

Darshil Jhaveri: Sorry, sir, 18% growth in revenue and in terms of EBITDA, I didn't get you, sir. Sorry? Piyush Pankaj: Yes, yes. If you see the last 8 years, in 8 years, our CAGR is 18% in the revenue and 9% in EBITDA, we want to come back to that CAGR again.

Darshil Jhaveri: Okay. Okay. So, sir, I just wanted to know like previously, we've done 14%, 15% EBITDA. Sometimes it's also going to 20%. So in terms of EBITDA, what's going to be a steady-state, like I think in H1we did around 13% and in H2, we were around 12%. So what kind of margin on a steady-state basis can we expect, sir?

Piyush Pankaj: See, you have to -- if you want to look for the operational EBITDA, you have to look for the slides on operational slide -- operational analysis slide, which is given in our investor presentation, where you will see that we are doing an EBITDA level of 22% to 23%. So we are going to maintain that. We did 24% last year. This year, it is 22%-23%. We want to maintain and keep the EBITDA in that range, operational EBITDA in that range.

Darshil Jhaveri: Okay. Fair enough, sir. And sir, just wanted to know like currently on the ground, like how are we seeing the demand like for both cable and broadband? Like a lot of people are -- like the cable growth has been good for us, but then is there some resistance like a lot of people want to just be able to watch it via Internet or so just wanted to ask on the ground demand, how are we seeing sir?

Piyush Pankaj: See, the demand for entertainment is there throughout. It depends that; customers are delivery agnostic. They want the content to be delivered at their home effortlessly. That's what we are doing right now. So the demand for entertainment is maintained. The thing is that in this challenging industry, how you will transform yourself and you make the bundles in such a way that you provide what customers need. And that's what we are doing from last 3 to 4 years as after the COVID, and we will continue to do so. So the demands are there, and we want to capitalize that.

Moderator: The next question is from the line of Sahil Vora from M&S Associates.

Sahil Vora: My first question is, sir, during the last quarter, we spoke about broadcasters taking a price rise. Just wanting to understand if we were able to pass on the price hikes on our customers?

Piyush Pankaj: Yes, you're right. The broadcasters are taking the price up a bit. But yes, we are seeing that how we can accommodate that and how we can pass very small cost to the customer side. As you know, the market is still sensitive. So we have to see that how we can absorb those costs in our whole delivery system and pass some very small cost towards the customers. So that's going on. We are going to implement that in this quarter 1 and in the market.

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Sahil Vora:

Okay. And sir, have you seen any adverse impact of the same on our subscriber addition?

Piyush Pankaj:

No, we have not seen. Actually, the subscriber surge has happened from the last week of March after the start of IPL and the end of Holy-Ramadan period. And we are very happy with the surge, which is showing. And again, the customers are coming back into the fold and the interest is coming back. So no, we have not seen any deprivation because of the content cost increase at all.

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: Basically, in the consumer side, we are not mostly increasing. This is the understanding between MSO and LCO, we put together absorb that cost.

Sahil Vora: Okay. Understood. Sir, my second question is, in the current year, we saw only a small increase in our subscriber base in cable TV. The pace of customer addition has dropped off from 0.5 million to about 1 lakh now. Sir, what are the potential reasons for the same? And did the competition increase, particularly during FY '25? Or were some other factors at play?

Piyush Pankaj: No. The industry witnessed a higher churn during FY '25 as the advent of expansion of different content providers in the industry, including telcos, new OTT players and social media site. We have seen that this year is particularly a bit challenging as you can say, new content providers, regional content provider has emerged in the country. But yes, we have seen that for the 2 quarters only, that is quarter 2 and quarter 3. From quarter 4 onwards, we have again seen that the market has neutralized.

The churn has neutralized and everything is again coming back to the same position. But due to that 2 quarters somewhere the churn has increased by 2% to 3%, and that's why instead of 0.5 million, we have added just 100,000 subscriber base in this year. But we are hopeful that the next year, again, we will come at the same level of more than 0.5 million addition in the core.

Sahil Vora:

Okay. That's promising, sir. And similarly, I had a question for the broadband business. Sir, I was of the opinion that maybe price hikes undertaken by all the major players would have provided a flip to subscribers to explore fixed line broadband. In this context, what are the potential reasons for a relatively slower growth in broadband business as well? Is there crowding out due to competition from other telcos? Or is the B2B part yet to take off meaningfully?

Piyush Pankaj: Both the reasons are there because the telcos has increased their offerings in the market. If you see, due to the advent of 5G, they have come with the clear fiber, which is still providing quality and all, we will not talk about that. But that has given a euphoria in the market for the short term.

And suddenly for around 4 to 5 months, that has ate up the additions for everyone. I'm talking about the whole industry. And so, that euphoria is over now. So we are hopeful that because of the increase in the data prices by the telcos it will start helping us in the wired broadband

Anirudhsinh Jadeja:

Especially mobility data.

Piyush Pankaj:

Yes, mobility data. So that will start helping and giving us so. But because of this euphoria, we have not seen any movement in this financial year, but we can say that already we have started seeing some of the movements on the wired side, on the positive side.

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Moderator:

The next question is from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor & Company.

Saket Kapoor: Sir, firstly, if we look into this our Headend-In-The-Sky broadcasting services, are they in sync with what Starlink and others will be offering or are there offerings? Are they connected in some way to the same and hence, the timing also? Or are they different altogether?

Piyush Pankaj: No, it's totally different, Saket.

Saket Kapoor: Okay, sir. Piyush Pankaj: For the delivery system for the entertainment, which is like cable TV or you can say that TV broadcasting, the delivery of that. And the Starlinks are more on the Internet side, that's the satellite internet. So both are totally different. Yes both are through satellite, but that is for the Internet services and this is for the entertainment services.

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: And that is for B2C customer, this is for the B2B customer. Piyush Pankaj: That's right. Saket Kapoor: Okay, sir. Sir, when we look at our financials on a yearly basis, what explains this dip in PBT, sir? Were there any regrouping of line items? Or if you could just give us some understanding, especially for last year March quarter versus this March quarter, I think so there was any oneoff item? How should one read into the yearly numbers and the downward trend, which we have seen on an annual basis? Piyush Pankaj: See, a few things we have to see that, one, is that, there is a dip in the subscription income by INR28 crores annually, and that is because we have added 100K subscribers during the financial year with the deeper penetration in existing markets. We have entered into the new markets. But as the company enters new market, we have to keep competitive rates and give attractive schemes and which ultimately impacts the overall ARPU.

And the same has resulted in growing of revenue by 2%, the loss in subscription income of INR28 crores. Plus you can see that there is an increase in depreciation and finance cost. And that resulted in having a negative, you can say, decrease in the PBT.

This all, we are countering it because our revenue will go up as we have just added 100K, but again, we will come back to adding more than 0.5 million, and we will see that the impact in the revenue. Same we will see that the depreciation is going to be at least constant or a bit of increase on that, which will be covered by the increase in the revenue. So we are looking forward that we will come back again back to the same PBT level, which is there.

Saket Kapoor: Sir, if you take the numbers just on a constant like-to-like basis, INR151 crores is what we posted, correct me there. And this year, it is INR64 crores. So the difference is to the tune of INR80 crores- INR87 crores. You did explain about INR28 crores and some depreciation impact. But over top of that also, I think there is something more which I'm missing, kindly address the same. And also, on the ECL part, we can see that the expected credit loss also last

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year was INR82 million -- INR8 crores this time it is INR15.5 crores. So if you could just explain these two impacts?

And third question is about the capex part, I think. So, we have invested rather another INR318odd crores in this year. So if you could just explain us the nature of where the money has been invested into which areas that would suffice?

Piyush Pankaj:

See, at the EBITDA level, if you see, we have lost around INR50 crores at the EBITDA level from INR511 crores, we have come down to INR462 crores. The main reason is the subscription income, which is down by INR28 crores and some of the infrastructure costs which we have incurred. So that's why the other operating expenses have gone up a bit. We have contained our employee costs.

And if you see the net pay channel cost and all, it is at the line. And if you come to the next slide, which is the analysis on operating margin, you will see that operating EBITDA is down from INR460 crores to INR416 crores. That is somewhere around INR45 crores we lost over there.

Apart from that, if you see there is a 9% increase in the depreciation from INR337 crores, we have gone to INR368 crores, which is an increase of INR31 crores. So this INR50 crores plus INR31 crores, if you will see, this is the INR80 crores and which is coming into that in the PBT, this INR80 crores.

What we are going to counter in this way is that, this INR50 crores, more than INR50 crores, we are going to get back in the EBITDA side. We are hoping and we are working towards that. Plus somewhere depreciation and amortization is going to be at a bit higher level, but not at this high level.

So, again, we will come back to the same PBT level or at least somewhere close to that PBT level. That's the target on which we are working towards. So if you see the operating margin, operating EBITDA percentage, we are still maintaining at 22% to 23%. And again, we will come back to that 24% to 25% EBITDA margin with the time.

Saket Kapoor:

Sir, on the capex and the ECL part.

Piyush Pankaj:

Yes. So, capex, yes, this year, we did around INR355 crores of capex. Out of that, INR230 crores of capex is in the CATV and INR125 crores capex in the broadband.

And last one, what you have asked?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja:

ECL.

Saket Kapoor: The expected credit loss, sir, that has gone up from INR8 crores to INR15.5 crores.

Piyush Pankaj:

Yes. In fact, that is totally on the account of broadcasters. If you talk about the trade payables movement, which is around INR209 crores if you see from INR715 crores, we have gone to INR924 crores. Out of this INR209 crores, INR213 crores is of broadcaster only. That's the increase. And same is the trade receivable side, if you see it has gone from INR437 crores to INR588 crores, which is INR151 crores.

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And out of that, around INR138 crores- INR139 crores is from the broadcasters only. So that's the way it has gone. So broadcasters, as you know, that they are increasing the prices, new tariffs are coming and everything is happening. So somewhere in the negotiations, still the movement is like there.

Saket Kapoor:

Sir, last point on the broadband part and the penetration part also. Sir, going ahead, do we find OF being the only way out wherein the broadband penetration is to increase or as you mentioned about the Air fiber and the other Wi-Fi devices being the new age of going into the hinterlands or the area where fiber deployment is not there?

Just want to understand how is the broadband penetration going to increase going ahead? And I think, sir, also we have heard that telcos are also not doing the regular capex in terms of the refurbishment capex for the OF part. So where are we, sir, in terms of optical fiber cables, the expenditure on the same in terms of the broadband penetration going ahead?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja:

So see, basically, I have three type of technology. One is the via satellite through Internet. Other is the air fiber through Internet and one is the FTTH, Fiber-To-The-Home technology, right? The best solution and proven solution is the FTTH and cost-effective solution over the line and with durability, with good Internet speeds. So, if you ask me, I don't think any wireless technology can beat wired technology. So this is the best solution, if you ask me.

Piyush Pankaj: See, in India, all type of technologies will prevail, but the mass will go for FTTH in the long term. That's our view.

Anirudhsinh Jadeja:

Because of the data.

Piyush Pankaj: Yes, because of data consumption, because of the durability, because as India will move towards more and more digital, the consistency and capability, you can say, that is going to require. And that has to be given by the FTTH only.

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: So just saying, mobility data price hike is there or change will happen, 100 % wireline FTTH, wireline broadband will grow.

Saket Kapoor: Sir, how much capex have we done? Can you share some numbers just on the optical fiber cables, deployment or the cables we use?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: Basically, if you look at the optical fiber cables, in the last 5-6 years, INR300 crores-INR400 crores we invested in optic fiber, almost more than 1 lakh kilometers infrastructures we laid in order and almost more than 6 to 6.5 million homepass we created.

Saket Kapoor:

What will be the yearly number, sir? Can you average it?

Piyush Pankaj: Yes, you can average it. Because, see, if you look at the last 6 years with cable and broadband, we have invested somewhere around INR2,500 crores to INR2,700 crores in the market. Out of that, 50% has gone into the broadband, 50% has gone into the cable. So, if you keep it in broadband, 50% has gone for the OFC, out of that. So somewhere around INR500 crores, INR600 crores in the last 4 years has gone into the OFC.

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Saket Kapoor: And how much is the replacement demand at the last point? How much should be the replacement in terms of the wear and tear of cable…

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: I don't think replacement demand. If you ask me, I don't think there is a replacement demand, in that way. It's a very rare case. I think it's not less than 1%, I don't think.

Moderator:

The next question is from the line of Varun Mishra from AS Group.

Varun Mishra: Actually, I had some questions. So like as we have been expanding in the broadband segment, what revenue potential do we foresee like in the future?

Piyush Pankaj: So, if you see, in the broadband revenue, we are at around INR545 crores, which we made in FY '25. And the CAGR is somewhere around 17% in that from last 4 years. So we are going to maintain that. There is a 4% jump in this year, but we are looking forward that we'll come back to the double figures very soon on this.

Varun Mishra: Okay, sir. And like through the mission, which has been initiated by the government, which wants to reach the remaining 170,000 like odd villages in India, which don't have Internet connection as of now. So like do we see an opportunity expanding over there? Like there might be competitors too trying to enter that segment. So how do you see that?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: So basically, as Gram Panchayat and rural broadband fiber penetration will increase, that will be the potential and benefit that we can cater to the last mile consumer, at the rural, level. We can provide our service at very cheap cost. Because nowadays, whoever government allots fibre, they do it at a cost-effective price.

So based on it a yes, good potential. We have associated with Gujarat, somewhere in the infrastructure revenue sharing base, which we are implementing that, we have signed the MoU with government.

Varun Mishra: Okay, sir. So like only we are planning -- like how are we planning to expand this like over Pan India or specifically targeting some states?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja : So right now, the Gujarat model is completely very stable and good, 98%, they are maintaining SLA, especially the GFGNL project and all and almost more than 15,000 villages have been covered under this entire Gram Panchayat. So yes, we are going to start with Gujarat. Along with Gujarat as soon as 15-16 projects are getting completed and their infrastructure develops, we will go in the same format as Gujarat in other states as well.

Varun Mishra: All right, sir. Like do we expect any good potential amount of capex while expanding in these small villages?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: Because the majorly backbone investment is completely done by government, so last mile of capex will be our side.

Moderator: The next question is from the line of Yash Mhatre from Cruz Capital.

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Yash Mhatre:

In the previous quarter, we had discussed about BharatNet III project. I just wanted some clarity on that. And you had mentioned about some litigation issue happening currently.

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: No, no, there is no litigation happening currently right now. We had participated with LC Infra as a lead bidder for Bharat Net Project, where LC Infra and GTPL as a consortium partner, we have come L1 at two places, in Haryana and North-East. The APO is yet to come. It is expected that within 30 to 45 days, we will get the APO.

Yash Mhatre: Okay, sir. And my second question is, can you help me understand the operational and strategic process when scouting and entering a new state, given we may not have our existing setup of cable operators?

Anirudhsinh Jadeja: No. India is a DAS market, Digital Addressable System. So everywhere set-top box is there.

Piyush Pankaj: So we are already in 26 states, if you see expanded. So already 26 states, we have a base. If you see the whole Northeast, all seven states, we are now there. Plus we are just not in Jammu Kashmir, Punjab, Kerala and Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep. Otherwise, we are everywhere now. We're now in 26 states.

Yash Mhatre: And sir, my last question is, when we add new customers now, would we be adding them at a lower margin since we are providing services at a lower cost than the main competition?

Piyush Pankaj: See, whenever you're entering a new market, yes, you have to go for a bit lower price of -- not the lower price, but attractive schemes and all, which lowered your ARPU a bit and you make it consistent after some time. So yes, when you enter, there is a cost which you incur as an acquisition cost for going into that market. And then you make it equal to your general ARPU.

Moderator: The next question is from the line of Ram Acharya from Stay Cautious PMS.

Ram Acharya: Sir, my first question is on the subscription income. So it has been experiencing a decrease for multiple quarters now. So what is contributing towards the same? I believe the sequential basis, it has moderated, but it has been decreasing for multiple quarters now. So, can you please enlighten us on this?

Piyush Pankaj: See, if you go for the stand-alone from the last eight quarters, if you see, from the last year, it has increased. It has gone up to -- quarterly base, I'm talking about stand-alone, it has gone up to INR225 crores for the quarter, which was in the range of INR205-INR208 crores last year. First two quarters also, if you see this financial year '25, that is we had at INR225 crores and INR221 crores.

From third quarter, we have come down to the level of INR210 crores or INR211 crores. That's what I explained earlier that the two quarters, which is July to September and then October to December was bad for the whole industry. And the churn rate has gone up on those period. And because of that, you will see that in the whole year, we have just added 100K more subscriber base, which we were expecting to add more than 0.5 million.

GTPL Hathway Limited April 17, 2025

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So yes, you're right that last year, it has started showing the increase from INR206 crores, INR207 crores a quarter, it has gone up to INR225 crores, but again, it has got muted down and we are at around INR208 crores, INR209 crores in the stand-alone I'm talking about. Overall also, if you see the same trend happening in the consol also.

But we are hopeful that, as I said, that from March onwards, mid-March onwards as the advent of IPL and the end of Holy Ramadan period, we have started seeing the increase in the subscriber base and the revenues. So we are hopeful that we are going to go into the green side in the subscription revenue.

Ram Acharya: Okay. So my follow-up was on the IPL only. So you are seeing an increase in the subscriber base and the revenue till now?

Piyush Pankaj: Yes.

Ram Acharya: Okay. And sir, with regards to your placement, carriage, marketing incentive, do we, as a company, benefit from higher advertisement spend? Or is linked to price charged by broadcasting channels?

Piyush Pankaj: The advertisement income includes both. But yes, partially, it is linked with the broadcasting pay channels, partially it is with the free broadcasters and partially it is our advertisement revenue, which we earned for our local operating channels. So all 3 are included there.

Ram Acharya: And a couple of questions on the financial part. So, any reason for sudden jump in the activation income? The earlier guidance was it would start diminishing over a period of time.

Piyush Pankaj: No. But activation revenue has gone down only from -- if you see from 17.4%, it has gone to -- we're talking about quarter 3 to quarter 4 from 3.3 to 4.4, that's an abrupt one because that is one of the accounting you can say, because of that it has come. Otherwise, if you see the year-toyear, it is going down in the consolidated also and in the stand-alone also.

Ram Acharya: Got it. And sir, below the EBITDA interest cost has risen by 29% year-on-year, and we have gradually seen net debt negative position turn to a minor debt positive. So how should we look at that? And when do we revert back to the net debt negative position?

Piyush Pankaj:

Yes. As you understand that we are going into the new platform and we are doing the capex and all. This is one of the situations right now as we are in the middle of implementing that. Once that implementation will come and the effect of those will start showing in the business, again, we will come back to net debt position.

So that's the way because, yes, we are doing the whole investments through internal accruals and through some of the working capital, which we are utilizing working capital and all, which we are utilizing. But those levels will go down with the time as the capex ends and business will start coming and the benefits will start coming.

GTPL Hathway Limited April 17, 2025

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Ram Acharya:

Okay. And sir, just a last question. Sir, in your investor presentation, it mentioned the sharp rise in average data consumption for this quarter. Do we experience higher associated costs when data usage by consumer rises?

Piyush Pankaj: No, it is not proportional, you can say, a bit, yes, but not proportion as we use the technology of pairing and caching and all. So with the utilization, your cost do not increase up to a level. But yes, if it crosses a bit, then you have to deploy some of the cost on that. But it is not proportionate. It is very minimal, you can say, the increase because you are caching or pairing technology and utilizing the bandwidth in a better way.

Moderator: As there are no further questions from the participants, I now hand the conference over to the management for their closing comments.

Piyush Pankaj: Thanks. I would like to express my thanks to every participant who took their time out to attend the call. I would like to thank Emkay for organizing this call. For any queries, please free to contact with Orient Capital, who are our Investor Relations Advisers. Thank you, and have a good day.

Moderator: Thank you. On behalf of Emkay Global Financial Services Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.