DSIJ Interview with,Farokh P. Gandhi CFO, Eros International Media Ltd
Farokh P. Gandhi
Chief Financial Officer, Eros International Media Ltd
"Changing technology, increased bandwidths and internet affordability has changed media industry immensely "
As a CFO of Eros International, what are your top three strategic priorities?
Our top three strategies include having a strong top line growth, margin expansion and continued efforts to maintain a conservative balance sheet while funding company's growth plan.
What is your outlook on media industry in India?
I think that the media landscape has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Changing technology, increased bandwidths and internet affordability has changed the industry immensely. People now have different viewing habits and are not just consuming content from cinema and television, but also via other media like digital and social media.
What are your key growth drivers?
We are redefining our portfolio mix and expanding margins by investing in content driven films with higher return on investment potential and lower risk, in turn making Eros less dependent on box office numbers. While we continue to believe that box office will be important, monetising traditional revenues and making content for our OTT platform competitive is an essential growth driver for us.
What kind of impact do you see on debt due to investment in content-driven film? Do you have any internal target ratio for debt-to-equity?
The investments in premium content and distribution networks we have made over the past few years are now clearly showing in our financials. We believe in maintaining a conservative balance sheet and our debt-to-equity ratio as on March 31 was 0.25, which is below the industry norms.
What is the toughest aspect of being a CFO?
CFOs have to keep up with the changing dynamics of every industry which directly or indirectly affect the business. The change in consumer preferences, behaviour, viewership and pricing, to change in government regulations, everything has an impact on the business and financial metrics. There are times when all the above situations arise at the same time, so one needs to be patient and handle all matters diligently..