Indian music label Saregama's profit rises 36% on new song releases

Saregama India

31/10/2022 08:28

BENGALURU, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Saregama India  SARE.NS 
reported a 36% increase in second-quarter profit on Monday, as
the record label licensed more movie songs to its streaming
partners following a rebound in the country's film industry.
    Profit climbed to 460.7 million Indian rupees ($5.59
million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 338 million
rupees a year earlier.
    Saregama, owned by soccer-to-electricity conglomerate
RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, said its revenue from operations rose
around 30% to 1.89 billion rupees.
    Revenue from its music business, which licenses its
catalogue of over 130,000 songs to streaming apps such as
Spotify  SPOT.N  and Amazon Music  AMZN.O  and television
channels such as Kalaignar TV, surged 24% to 1.51 billion
rupees.
    Saregama, which released the country's first ever
studio-recorded song over 120 years ago in British-ruled India,
said several brands, including WhatsApp, Uber, and Dettol, have
used its songs, driving up its licensing revenue.
    The broader easing of COVID-19 curbs this year has allowed
filmmakers to release more films this year -- songs featured in
movies make up a bulk of the most widely listened to songs in
the country.
    And while several movies this year failed to live up to
expectations, both on the financial and creative fronts, songs
from films such as "Gangubai Kathiawadi" and "Naane Varuvean"
have proven hits in the music-crazy country.
    Higher revenue, including from sales of its Carvaan portable
music player, helped Saregama offset a 32% rise in total
expenses.
    Saregama shares climbed 2% to 383.50 rupees at 0805 GMT on
Monday, after declining nearly 28% this year.
($1 = 82.4200 Indian rupees)
 (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by
Janane Venkatraman)
 ((Praveen.Paramasivam@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/PraveenR_P
 ; +91 867-525-3569;))