Shares of Zee Entertainment zoomed as much as 5.42 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 265.45 per share, in an otherwise weak market, after the company announced that Sony Pictures Networks India, now known as Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited, has agreed to discuss the extension of the merger deadline.

The merger was to be completed by December 22, as per the agreement signed in 2021. 

The Zee and Culver Max merger which was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in August, hit a roadblock when Punit Goenka, who was spearheading the plan, had to step down as CEO due to the SEBI order that barred him from holding key managerial positions in the company and other firms.

Financial performance

Zee Entertainment’s profit after tax (PAT) dropped 5.3 per cent annually to Rs 129.9 crore. Its advertising revenues dropped 3.3 per cent to Rs 979 crore, compared to Rs 1,012.6 crore in Q2 FY23. The dip came due to a challenging advertising environment, particularly impacted by decreased spending in categories such as edtech, fintech, foodtech, and e-commerce.

However, the company's total income soared to Rs 2,509.6 crore, from Rs 2,040.9 crore in the corresponding period of FY23.

Despite the challenges in the advertising sector, Zee's all India TV network share rose by 90 basis points sequentially. The network share increased to 17.9 per cent from 17 per cent in Q1 FY24.

Subscription revenue rose 8 per cent year-on-year, driven by an uptake in linear subscription revenue following the implementation of New Tariff Order (NTO) 3.0 and the success of its streaming service, Zee5.

Zee5, the over-the-top (OTT) platform, reported a whopping 59 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue, to Rs 265.2 crore in Q2 FY24, as opposed to Rs 167.1 crore in the same period of FY23. This growth was primarily attributed to higher subscription numbers on the streaming platform.

As of 9:31 am, shares of Zee Entertainment were trading 3.30 per cent higher at Rs 260.10 per share.