| Established market position and long track record of operations
Asianet News Network Private Limited (ANNPL) is a subsidiary of Asianxt Digital Technologies Private Limited (ADTPL) (Formerly Asianet News Media & Entertainment Private Limited (ANMEPL)) which is owned by Jupiter Capital Private Limited (JCPL). ANNPL handles two news channels in Kannada and Malayalam namely Asianet news (Malayalam) and Asianet Suvarna News (Kannada). Asianet News has an established track record of almost three decades in news channel business. ANNPL is managed by Mr. Frank Pettakkatt Thomas and Mr. Neeraj Kohli. The extensive experience of the directors has helped company in establishing strong relationship with its various stakeholders. The company has two subsidiaries namely Kannada Prabha publications limited (KPPL) and Asianet Media and entertainment FZ LLC(AMEFLLC). KPPL operates a newspaper named Kannada Prabha. Major revenue stream of ANNPL is advertisement incomes. ANNPL is market leader in Malayalam news channel industry and one of the top three news channel in Kannada news channel industry. Acuite believes that ANNPL will continue to benefit from its long track record of operations, extensive experience of the management and established market position in Malayalam and Kannada news channel industry.
Moderate financial risk profile
The financial risk profile of the company remains moderate, supported by comfortable capital structure and improving leverage indicators. The net worth increased to Rs.132.58 Cr. in FY2025 from Rs.122.60 Cr. in FY2024, driven by healthy profit accretion. The total debt reduced to Rs.37.43 Cr. in FY2025 from Rs.48.09 Cr. in FY2024. The debt-equity ratio stood healthy at 0.28 times in FY2025. Debt protection metrics strengthened, supported by lower interest burden. Interest coverage improved to 6.06 times in FY2025 from 2.85 times in FY2024, while Debt/EBITDA improved to 1.14 times from 1.49 times. However, the moderation in EBITDA remains a constraining factor, partially offset by lower debt levels. As on March 31, 2026 (Est.), while the gearing is expected to remain healthy at ~0.24 times, coverage indicators are expected to moderate with interest coverage ratio at ~1.65 times and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) at ~0.57 times. Overall, the financial profile is expected to remain moderate with adequate cushion in leverage and coverage indicators.
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| Moderation in operating performance with operating losses estimated in FY2026
The company reported moderation in operating income in FY2025 which stood at Rs.177.21 Cr. as compared to Rs.183.72 Cr. in FY2024, primarily due to lower contribution from the content segment and moderation in advertisement revenues following a decline in channel viewership rankings. The FY2026 estimated revenue stood at ~Rs.140 Cr. At the operating level, profitability weakened during the year, as reflected in the EBITDA margin declining to 7.89% in FY2025 from 11.60% in FY2024. The contraction in operating margin was mainly on account of elevated operating expenses, including higher selling expenses and increased spends on initiatives such as landing page activities. However, at the net level, profitability improved, with PAT margin increasing to 10.50% in FY2025 from 5.51% in FY2024. The improvement was largely driven by higher non-operating income in the form of interest income on inter-corporate deposits extended to group entities, along with lower finance costs, which together offset the pressure at the operating level. Going forward, as per FY2026 (estimates) the operating performance further subdued with operating loss of ~Rs.3.82 Cr , and net losses of around Rs.(2.64) Cr. Acuite believes, the operating performance of the company would remain subdued in near to medium term on account of demand side challenges and stiff competition.
Working capital intensive nature of operations
The company’s working capital operations remain intensive, as reflected in a high Gross Current Asset (GCA) cycle of 316 days in FY2025. The debtor days increased to 87 days in FY2025 from 82 days in FY2024, indicating relatively stretched receivables, which is typical in the media industry due to longer credit cycles from advertisers. A significant portion of current assets is also represented by loans and advances (inter corporate deposits), which remained high at Rs.104.02 Cr. as on 31st March 2025, further elongating the working capital cycle. The average utilization of the bank limits stood high, for fund based limits it stood at ~94.63% and for non-fund based limits it stood at 100% for the last 06 months ending Jan 2026.
High exposure to group companies
ANNPL has extended financial support to its subsidiary company Kannada Prabha Publications Limited (KPPL) and its holding company Asianxt Digital Technologies Private Limited (ADTPL) in the form of inter corporate deposits (ICDs) of Rs.104.02 Cr. (net of provision) as on March 31, 2025 which is ~78.46 per cent of net worth. Considering the weak financial position of KPPL, company has made provision of Rs.13.45 Cr. on the ICDs extended to KPPL and interest income from KPPL ICDs is also recognised on accrual basis. However, the company has received interest of Rs.7.55 Cr. in FY2026 (estimates), Rs.13.45 Cr. in FY2025 and Rs.6.00 Cr. in FY2024 from KPPLs available surplus. Acuité believes that the timely recovery of ICDs extended to group companies would remain key rating monitorable going ahead.
Exposure to intense competition in the media industry
ANNPL operates in a highly competitive and fragmented news broadcasting industry with the presence of several established regional and national players. Sustaining viewership share requires continuous investment in content quality, technology, and marketing initiatives. Further, intense competition exerts pressure on advertisement rates and audience retention, thereby impacting revenue growth and operating margins, especially during periods of muted advertising demand.
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