New Delhi: Network18 Media and Investments Ltd , the media company acquired in May by Mukesh Ambani ’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), on Tuesday reported a consolidated net loss of ₹ 1,021.9 crore for the quarter ended 30 June on account of one-time expenses.

The company, which has business interests in television, movies and online retailing, among other media properties, had posted a profit of ₹ 18.9 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 27% to ₹ 708.4 crore in the three months ended 30 June from ₹ 556.6 crore a year earlier.

One-time expenses accounted for ₹ 1,045.3 crore in the latest June quarter. These included a ₹ 208.1 crore writedown on investments made, write-offs on loans and receivables worth ₹ 398.8 crore and ₹ 7.6 crore paid as severance pay and consulting charges.

“The overall consolidated numbers are lower than our expectations, likely due to the entertainment operations or non-news operations having under-performed," said an analyst with a local brokerage who declined to be identified.

Revenue from its subsidiaries TV18 Broadcast Ltd, which operates news channels CNN-IBN and CNBC TV18, and Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, an equal joint venture with Viacom Inc., rose 33% to ₹ 527.7 crore.

For the June quarter, TV18 Broadcast’s net loss (including entertainment) was ₹ 154.5 crore compared with a profit of ₹ 5.9 crore in the year-ago period.

CNN-IBN, the general news channel, sustained its viewership with a 26% market share in the genre, the company said. In the entertainment segment, Colors remained the leader during the weekends with a 27% market share.

The company’s digital operations, including ibnlive.com, moneycontrol.com and firstpost.com among others, cumulatively reached a monthly average of 28 million unique vistors in the June quarter. Its film ticketing website bookmyshow.com posted a 30% increase in tickets sold every month to 3.78 million from a year ago.

On 29 May, RIL announced that it was taking complete control of Network 18 Media and Investments including its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast at a cost of ₹ 4,000 crore.

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