The fundraising, if approved, will be done through multiple ways including a qualified institution placement, preferential issue, or any other method.
“A meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled to be held on June 6 to consider raising of funds by way of issuance of equity shares and/or any other eligible securities through permissible modes, including but not limited to a private placement, a qualified institutions placement, preferential issue, or any other method or combination of methods,” the company said in a filing.
The fundraising proposal comes after Sony scrapped its $10 billion merger earlier in January this year, ending a deal that would have created an Indian TV juggernaut.
ZEE since then announced a slew of measures to cut costs and reduce losses in its business, including cutting 15% of its workforce.In the recent fourth quarter, the company reported a profit of Rs 13.35 crore against a loss a year ago, helped by strong demand for advertising and a fall in expenses.Domestic advertising revenue for the quarter rose nearly 11% year-on-year (YoY), driven by the continued recovery in the macro advertising environment and spending pickup by FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) clients.The company took a restructuring-related charge of Rs 21.97 crore during the quarter.
Operation-wise, Zee has done a reasonable job with tariff order price hikes and advertising revenue growth, said Karan Taurani, media analyst at Elara Capital.
“Will see most one-time higher costs towards implementing the interventions, offsetting underlying operating performance improvements and causing softness on margins for the first quarter,” the company had said in its earnings filing.
On Monday, shares of ZEE closed over 5% higher at Rs 156.75 on NSE.
