Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Balaji Telefilms firmly in the picture

Balaji Telefilms gained 5.20% to Rs 187 at 12:20 IST on BSE on reports the company was in talks with a clutch of investors to buy Star group's 25.99% stake in the company.
The stock hit a high of Rs 200 and a low of Rs 178.75 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 388 on 26 November 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 146.50 on 16 July 2008.
The company has an equity capital of Rs 13.04 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.
The current price of Rs 187 discounts its Q1 June 2008 annualised EPS of Rs 13.66, by a PE multiple of 13.69.
According to a report, Balaji's stake is owned by Asian Broadcasting FZ-LLC, a Dubai-based affiliate of Star group, and was bought for Rs 123 crore in 2004.
Balaji will float another joint venture company with these investors to launch a bouquet of regional television channels, the report added. Balaji’s move will make it one of Star’s rivals in the regional language television market.
While Star was very close to ending its relationship with Balaji, the formalities were yet to be completed, the report quoted an unnamed official as saying.
On Monday, News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch said the US media conglomerate plans to invest $100 million in six regional language channels in India, where it is a leading broadcaster.
Balaji Telefilms’ net profit rose 20.7% to Rs 22.26 crore on 22.9% increase in net sales to Rs 91.60 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007.
Balaji Telefilms dominates the television content business. It provides content to most Hindi satellite channels.

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