BENGALURU, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE.NS) reported a quarterly loss on Wednesday, damage by weak demand for commercials, whereas bills surged.

The broadcaster, which is closing in on a merger with the India unit of Japan’s Sony Group (6758.T), posted a consolidated internet lack of 534.2 million rupees for the primary quarter ended June 30, in opposition to a revenue of 1.07 billion rupees a 12 months earlier.

Total revenue rose 6.4% to 19.98 billion rupees, whereas bills jumped almost 17%, pushed by increased working, worker in addition to advertising and marketing prices, the corporate stated in a submitting.

Indian broadcasters have suffered in latest quarters as corporations reduce spending on commercials to save lots of money in a difficult macro-economic surroundings, whereas some moved to focused commercials in digital platforms for particular occasions like sports activities tournaments.

Zee flagged muted commercial spending, primarily because of the Indian Premier League, a cricket league, in the course of the first two months of the quarter.

Programming and know-how prices elevated because of increased content material prices in films, whereas advertising and marketing prices elevated on the again of spending on new exhibits, films and theatrical releases, Zee stated.

“Green shoots emerged towards the quarter end, with early signs of advertisement spends starting to pick up, led by fast moving consumer goods companies,” Zee added.

Billionaire Gautam Adani-owned New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV.NS) reported a loss within the first quarter, whereas Mukesh Ambani-owned TV18 Broadcast (TVEB.NS) noticed surging advertising and marketing bills denting a key revenue metric.

The Zee and Sony Group unit’s merger was introduced in 2021 to create a $10-billion TV enterprise. The firm has seen a number of regulatory points with its CEO being banned from holding board positions for a 12 months because of the alleged diversion of the corporate’s funds.

Zee’s shares are marginally up up to now this 12 months.

Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.