Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Pulkit Chawla from Emkay Global Financial Services. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Saurav. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Q4 FY24 earnings call for GTPL Hathway. We have with us today Mr. Anirudhsinh Jadeja, Promoter and Managing Director, Mr. Piyush Pankaj, Business Head CATV and Chief Strategy Officer, and Mr. Saurav Banerjee, Chief Financial Officer. Without any further delay, I shall now hand over the call to the management for their opening remarks. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Pulkit. Good evening, everyone. A warm welcome to everybody to the earnings call of GTPL Hathway to discuss the financial performance of Q4 and FY24. The company made progress in its subscriber base across both segments, achieving the 1 million subscriber milestone in broadband business and closing CATV at 9.5 million subscribers this financial year. As the largest MSO, we look forward to consolidation of industry and retaining customers based on the economy of scale and quality offerings. On the broadband side, the growing trend of digitalization, connectivity, and larger data consumption will help drive wide broadband growth as India is still underpenetrated as compared to the global players. We are a company with a consistent dividend-paying history among our shareholders. For the current financial year, FY24, the Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of 40%, INR 4 per share. I will now hand over to Mr.
Piyush Pankaj, who will take you through the segmented KPIs and overall business strategy.
Thank you, Mr. Jadeja. Good evening, everyone. First, let me share the usual KPIs for our cable TV and broadband business before delving into our strategy for both these segments. Our digital cable TV subscriber base as of 31st March 2024 stands at 9.5 million, with paying subscribers standing at 8.8 million. On a YOY basis, the increase in active and paying subscribers is 550,000 and 600,000, respectively. In the broadband business, as you are aware, we had crossed 1 million subscribers in Q3 FY24, ending the quarter and financial year 2024 at 1.02 million. We thus have added 100,000 new subscribers, an increase of 11% on a YOY basis. Homepass stood at 5.80 million as of 31st March 2024, of which 75% are available for FTTX conversion. Homepass grew by 500,000 on a YOY basis. The broadband ARPU for Q4 and FY24 remained stable at INR 450,000.
The average data consumption per customer per month stood at 355 GB, a 10% increase YOY. Our strategy for growth in cable TV remains clear, and as previously shared with you all, we will continue to pursue both organic and inorganic opportunities for growth through expansion in existing markets, exploring new geographies, and acquiring smaller players, respectively. In broadband segments, India has one of the lowest fixed-broadband penetrations. In January 2024, wireline broadband subscribers stood at 38.9 million. With 325 million households in India, current subscribers represent 12% penetration, which is far lower than penetration in developed nations of the world. The overarching strategy involves convergence of both cable TV and broadband services to provide holistic bundles to our subscribers to fulfill their entertainment and connectivity needs. Other services integration, such as gaming, OTT apps, TV everywhere, etc., will help make it a complete package deal for our consumers.
This will not only help improve customer stickiness, thereby reaching that churn, but will also help us increase our ARPU and thus improve our markets. I will now hand over the call to Mr. Saurav Banerjee, who will take you through the financial performance of the company.
Thank you, Mr. Piyush. Good evening to all participants. Let me take you through the quarterly results first. On a consolidated basis, revenue grew by 16% YOY to INR 8,148 million. Subscription revenue saw an increase of 14% YOY to INR 3,148 million. The broadband revenue stood at INR 1,308 million and registered a growth of 5% on a yearly basis. Operating EBITDA saw an increase of 12% YOY to INR 1,080 million, primarily led by higher growth in subscription income and ISP revenue. Consolidated EBITDA stood at INR 1,198 million, increasing by 8% YOY with an EBITDA margin of 14.7%. Net profit, excluding other comprehensive income for Q4 FY24, stood at INR 160 million. Now, on to the consolidated full-year financial results. We reported revenue in excess of INR 3,000 crores for the first time in the company's history. Revenue grew by 20% YOY to INR 3,260 million.
Subscription revenue saw an increase of 15% YOY to INR 12,604 million. The broadband revenue stood at INR 5,068 million and registered a growth of 9% on a yearly basis. Operating EBITDA saw an increase of 6% YOY to INR 4,599 million. Consolidated EBITDA stood at INR 5,111 million with an EBITDA margin of 15.7%. The decrease in EBITDA and margin was primarily due to a reduction in deferred activation revenue and a decrease in non-operating income. Net profit, excluding other comprehensive income for FY2024, stood at INR 1,118 million. I would now request the moderator to open the floor for the Q&A session.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use hands-free while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Guneet Singh from Counter Cyclical PMS. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for this opportunity. Am I audible?
Yeah, yeah, Guneet. Please go ahead.
Yeah, so I would like to understand our revenues were in the range of INR 2,400 crore-INR 2,600 crore for the past couple of years, but right now we have seen quite a good growth in the revenues. So what is the main driver for this growth? Firstly, I would like to understand that. And secondly, even though our revenues have grown quite significantly, the operating margins have shrunk to all-time low levels. So I mean, what is the reason for this fall in the operating margins, and what kind of steady state margins should we expect going forward? And would we be able to regain the margins as we enjoyed previously?
Yeah, Guneet. Guneet, this year, if you see that CATV revenue has grown by around 15%, which is more than INR 100 crore, which has come into the profit. ISP revenue has grown by around 9% in the overall. Because of this good growth, you will see that there is a jump in the revenue side. Yes, on the margin side, if you see, as I always say, look at the operating margin which I have given in my presentation. You will see that we are doing at 24% of operating margin, which is given in the presentation, which is net of what we paid to the broadcasters and net of one-time revenue and expenses. So we are maintaining that operating margin. It is in the range of 24%-26%, which is going up from the last five years, if you see.
We are at the same range which we are maintaining. I would say that it will improve from here for the better.
All right, sir. And what kind of threat do we see from direct internet? I mean, non-wired broadband, for example, Jio or I mean, Airtel, they are coming up with direct internet without the need for any wired connections. So don't you feel that even the cable TV and the wired broadband, they are threatened by such players wherein people can directly view, I mean, the channels or TV through internet rather than getting these wired connections? So I mean, what kind of threat do you perceive from these? And like you mentioned that India has very low penetration in wired broadband and even direct cable TV. So probably, don't you think that this can be I mean, this phase of just moving instead of in the direction of wired, this can be just replaced by going wireless through platforms like Jio or Airtel?
Don't you think, I mean, that is a possibility? Or what kind of threats do you perceive from this?
Guneet, you mentioned it, right, that as I mentioned in my opening speech, only 12% penetration is there in India wherein if you talk about the U.S. market, it is already more than 70%. So Eurozone is already more than 65%. China is at 55%. Korea and other countries, there is 80% penetration of wired because one thing we have to understand is that wired is the consistency if you require, then you have to go for the wired. Because in the wireless, you will not get the consistent broadband. You can say it is going up and down. The speeds are going up and down depending upon the number of people under the tower. But still, I would say still, in the wired broadband side, India is at the startup point. Every player is doing their bit. The telcos are also there. The independent players are also there.
You can talk about Telecity and Telegram and so on. All are there into this market, and everyone has the open market. It's a very big market right now. We are considering that somewhere the wired broadband from 38-39 million will go to around 150 million in the next 5-7 years. So it's a big, big market for the broadband. So that's why we are not worried about the competition as there is a lot of subscribers to take it.
All right, sir. Thank you for addressing my question. I'll join the queue.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, if you wish to join the question queue, please press star and one. The next question comes from the line of Ravi Patel, who's an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir, and congratulations. My first question is that there seems to be a change in reporting of the fiber infra. Our leased fibers have more than doubled from around 6,500 km to somewhere 16,000 km, and no mention of underground fiber either. Is there some reconstitution in reporting or some strategic change where you want to focus more on leased equipment?
No, it's more of, if you see, for 97,000, we have gone to 1,000,000 plus on the owned one. And the leased one, it was, you can say, reporting year after year is going to 16,000 plus, which we have corrected this year as in the last two years, we have gone for a lot of connections from Airtel and Jio on that with the telcos. So there, we did that correction in the reporting side. So these are the correct figures, for example.
Okay. And so is my understanding correct that the rising lease liabilities for the year is largely due to the rising leased cables? And how much of an increase in interest costs has played between debt repayments and interest on lease liabilities?
Come again. Can you repeat the question, please? The voice was cracking.
Am I audible now?
Yeah, yeah. Audible, audible now. Yeah, please.
No, I just wanted to understand. Is my understanding correct when it comes to lease liabilities for the year? For the year, the rise is due to the rising leased cables, or how much of the increase in interest costs is split between debt repayments and interest on lease liabilities?
Yeah, yeah. So yeah.
Yeah. So the finance for interest costs has two components. Primarily, two components are there. One is, of course, as you said, the debt cost, which is about on an average, our debt cost is over 8.5%. So based on utilization of our limits, the debt cost may vary from quarter to quarter or from a reporting date to another reporting date. And there is an operating lease, so there is an accounting-related entry which also is a part of the finance cost. So these are the two components. One is the real finance cost, and one is the operating lease-related accounting entry which is included in the finance cost. So these are the two components.
Okay, sir. Got it. Thank you. Thank you for the clarification, sir. Thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anjali Mishra, who's an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Hello.
Hi, Anjali. You are audible?
Hello. Yeah. Good evening, everyone. So my question is regarding project income and cost. So on a net basis between project income and cost, there seems barely any profit. So could you please guide me on the accounting of the same? And also, are we booking expenses we are yet to monetize? And also, because the previous guidance has shown 12%-13% margin in the project, so I'm currently only getting INR 2 million net on a INR 410 million cost.
Yeah. So this project, I think we have taken that in the quarter three. So this project is granted by Gujarat ISP Private Limited, GISL, after tendering off of these INR 46 crore. Wherein the gram panchayat of 8,000 Gujarat villages under phase one and phase two of BharatNet project has to be made Wi-Fi-enabled by supplying the materials and installation of the same at the gram panchayat premises. So this project is almost over, and we have taken the revenues in the last quarter. And cost, also, we have taken in the last quarter. Some of the revenues is still pending, which we will take in the next quarter as this quarter, we have not taken. And yes, the margin is going to be around 12% margin in this project.
Okay. One more question.
But the benefits have already been taken. Some of the revenues have already been taken.
Okay. The new question is regarding the growth in active subscribers in your TV division has stayed at the same level pretty much post Q2 FY24. Why has that been the case?
You are talking about which subscriber? Cable or broadcast?
TV division. Active subscribers in your TV division?
CATV division?
Yes. Yes, TV division.
Yeah. So CATV division, if you see, active subscriber year-over-year, Y-o-Y, has increased by around 550,000, and paying has increased by around 600,000. So there is an increase in the subscriber base, more than 500,000 in the year.
Did you see a lot of churn in H2 FY24, and there was less net addition to the subscriber base?
Yeah. Churn is going to be there as I explained in earlier calls also. But yes, we are doing the acquisitions and all, which is the churn is between 5%-3% to 17%, varying here and there with the market. But we are looking to 2%-17% as the churn is going up. But yes, we are doing the organic and inorganic both, and we are adding the numbers.
Okay, okay. Thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you.
Thank you. A request to all the participants, please restrict your questions not on speaker mode, but please use handsets while asking your question. The next question is from the line of Ketan Athavale from Robo Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I have two questions. Firstly, can you give guidance for next two years regarding revenue and margins? And secondly, when do we expect to reach 19%-20% kind of margin on full revenue basis?
See, if you talk about the CAGR, we have given that we are going up at the 17% of CAGR on the revenue side. EBITDA growth is a bit down because earlier, it was going at 12%-13%. Now, it is at 12%-8% CAGR at this time. But yes, as we go forward, there are plans to increase the revenue and reduce the cost. But already, we have been back in FY2025. So we are hopeful that in FY2025, the operating margin we are talking about, it will again jump back to 26%-27%. And there, you will start seeing that there is a jump in the net profit also. So that's what we are doing right now and planning to do. That's just the plan which we are taking care of in this FY2025.
Okay, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to join the question queue. The next question is from the line of Sanika from Sapphire Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Am I audible?
Yeah, yeah. Sanika.
Hello.
Please.
Yeah. So for quarter four, we had given a guidance of 17% EBITDA margin. So I just want to understand why have we not been able to achieve it?
Yeah. So we did around 15% margin instead of 17%. That is because of two revenues which have gone down, which is one-time revenue, one is active income, and one is other income, if you see. Both have gone down around INR 32-35 crore because of that. If we add that back, we will be at around 17.5%. In presentation, I have given the operational margin or operation EBITDA also just after the financials. If you see there, we are at 25%, 24% EBITDA margin right now, which is 1% down from the last year. But yeah, we are very it is in the range of 24%-26% only. And we are confident that we will get back to 25%-26% next year.
Okay. So can we say that in the next year, which is FY25 for this year, which is FY25, we will be able to do 20%-21% kind of margin for the full year? And can we say quarter one, we can get around 17%-18% margin, which were like for quarter four?
One thing which I'm always saying in the call that because we have to see the margins after netting the payment to broadcasters and revenue from the broadcasters, that's why we will take the proper EBITDA margin, the operational EBITDA margin, which we did as the operating margin. So that's why we have started giving the operational margin, which is, if you calculate it for the years, and we'll give you that, it is between the range of 24%-26% throughout. So as a business, we are maintaining that operating margin throughout. This is because the pay channel, or you can say the payment to broadcaster and the revenue from broadcaster, there is a mismatch.
Because of that, we are seeing that on the overall, we are seeing that the margin is going down because the contribution of marketing and placement revenue is lower than the main revenue of subscription and ISP revenue. Because of that, it is pulling down the margin. But you have to see it by netting what you are paying to the broadcaster and what you are getting from the broadcasters. If you net that, you will come to the real business margins. That's what we are giving in the operational margins.
Okay, okay. And next year, like we have guided before, a 20% growth. So in FY25 as well, we can expect 20% growth in our top line?
Yeah, yeah. If you talk about the operational margin, as I said, that it is going to be between 24%-26%. We are trying to maintain that or increase that on the operational side. In real margin, if you talk about because it depends on what we are getting it from the broadcaster and what we are paying to the broadcaster. Based on that, what contribution of pay channel or marketing and incentive revenues, based on revenues, is going to be in the EBITDA. Based on that, your margin will go up and down. So we are not sure about that because we do the business in the net basis to all these things on the net basis. So I'd say that if you follow the operational margin, that will be great as an analyst.
Okay. And just one more question, which is on the depreciation side. We've done INR 337 crore of depreciation we've had in this year. So next year, again, can we expect an INR 25 crore-INR 26 crore increase based on the CapEx guidance that you've given last year?
Yeah. This year's a bit exceptional. But yeah, next year also, because I have already told that we have to do some of the CapEx for maintaining the business. The churn has gone up from earlier 7%-8% to now 15%. So that's where we are before COVID. It was 7%-8%. After COVID, it has gone up to 15%. So there, you have to do some CapEx for maintaining the business. And those are adding into your depreciation, which is not contributing into the so it will increase. But yeah, it will be not increased at that level, but it will increase.
Okay. CapEx number is around INR 400 crore, right, which is value maintenance CapEx?
Yeah. We are going to do between INR 350 crore-INR 400 crore this year.
Sorry. Can you repeat the number?
We were going to do CapEx of between INR 350 crores-INR 400 crores in FY25.
Okay, okay, okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jaykanth Kasturi from Way2 Wealth. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hello, sir. Sir, I was going to your balance sheet. In terms of your borrowing, you said has increased. Could you tell me the reason? Probably is it because of the project which you are doing right now, or it's due to any other reasons too?
Yeah. So you will see that there is an increase in the borrowing. This is mainly due to you're right. Due to the project, we have to give some margin money, and we have to utilize our limits, the order limits, fully. And because of that, you will see there is an increase in the borrowing right now.
Sir, do you see it coming down by first half of the year?
Yeah, yeah. Within FY25, it will be at the same level as it was in FY23. In FY24, it has been increased because of the projects. Because of that, we have to utilize our all orders at the maximum we are expecting that it will come down in FY25 over time.
Sir, and with regards to your tail receivables, finally, from the broadcasters' receivables, how do you see it?
Yeah, yeah. So its trade receivable is both you already said trade receivables and payables. It's almost both sides around 80% has increased. That is 80% from pay channel from the broadcasters.
Okay. It's not particularly one broadcaster. These are individual broadcasters.
No, no. It's not particularly one broadcaster. So you have to receive money also from them. You have to pay them.
Yeah, yeah. That's true. That's true. Yeah, yeah. Sir, in terms of your looking about the activation, the activation cost, it has come down very significantly. Do you see it further coming down for this financial year also?
Yes, yes. It will come down because, see, activation is the default one, which we have, which it's like you get that debit activation, and you have to defer it for five years. So this all year thing that which is going down is a default of the revenue which is going down because now we are doing the activation as we are taking activation and if you're charging into the this year, that year only. And that's why I'll say that as non-cash one-time, which was huge, and it has come down by around INR 16 crores this year. Next year also, it will come down by around 7 to 8 to 9 crores, which we have received that.
Okay, sir. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Siddhant Shah from Corporate Database. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. This is Siddhant here. Thank you for letting me ask the question. Sir, I have a couple of questions. One, I think we completed the acquisition of Metrocast in this quarter, right? Did we consolidate that entity before itself, or after this consolidation, has that added subscribers and the subscription income to our P&L?
Yeah, yeah. We have started consolidating it from the quarter two when we had taken it up to 4% and the control on the company. This quarter, we have as for the increment and all, we have increased our stake to 50.1% now in the company.
So in this quarter, it was 50.1%, right, after this quarter in March?
That's right. That's right. This quarter, it is 50.1%. So the increment in this quarter will happen somewhere around 13th of March. 13th or 14th of March.
We have consolidated that entity from Q2 itself, but.
That's right. That's right. In Q2, we have given that. We have started consolidating Metrocast numbers.
Got it. Got it. And now, since we have acquired the majority stake, how many more subscribers has Metrocast added to our active subscribers, or that has made no change there?
Yeah. It's like 4.5 lakhs, which is there in 9.5 million which we have given. So 4.5 lakhs subscribers have come from the Metrocast.
Metrocast. Got it. And sir, on the quarter-on-quarter thing, I noticed that there has been a slight degrowth in both subscription and broadband revenues on a quarter-on-quarter basis. But we've actually seen our number of subscribers increase while our pool is stable. So just wanted to understand, is that just an accounting entry that is why it has decreased?
Yeah, it is that. We have to see that there is one day which is lesser in this quarter than the quarter three. So there is an effect of one day revenue which is there in both ISP and cable side. Plus, as you know, this quarter, there was Ramadan. And in the Ramadan time, always the subscriber goes down and again come back. So they are coming back in April, but yet. So March, we got affected due to Ramadan. And where we see in this quarter, we are crossing around INR 1 crore of revenue in that. So it's one day plus INR 1 crore.
Got it. Okay. Fair enough. And sir, in terms of just CapEx, did we include Metrocast acquisition in our CapEx figures for FY24? And are we going to keep the stake at 50%, or is FY25 CapEx number accounting for the remaining of Metrocast?
No, no. Whatever we did, that is coming into the investment in our books right now. And from next year onwards, we are going to go for the CapEx and all because the deal was to as you can see there, that was to give in the check or cash for INR 25 crore plus the boxes to that category. So that's why. So those are all have gone into the investment right now. So no CapEx has happened. The CapEx this year is INR 96 crore, which has happened. Out of that, INR 200 crore is cable, and INR 196 crore is platform.
Got it. So this acquisition is not counted in that CapEx figure, right?
No, no, no. It is in the investment.
Okay. It is. Okay. Got it. Got it. Sir, so just in terms of now, I understand that the churn has increased. And I was just looking at the operating EBITDA which you emphasized on. We spent almost around INR 400 crore of CapEx this year in FY2024. And while our EBITDA has barely increased by 6%, which is an increment of around just INR 30 crore-INR 40 crore odd. So we spent almost INR 400 crore in increasing our operating EBITDA by just INR 40 crore. So incremental return on our CapEx has been barely 10%. So going forward, do you think that this metric of our incremental growth will improve with our new CapEx that we are doing?
Yes, sir. So this time, as I said that the box side, if you see, the NTO 3.0 has come into effect, and already the whole margin is under pressure from the pay channel this year. That's why you are seeing the muted growth of 6% in the operating margin that you see in the EBITDA side. But from FY25, it should become stable. Again, we should start giving somewhere between 10%-12% growth in the EBITDA side.
Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. And last, sir, just since you've mentioned that we are very underpenetrated in our broadband as a category, India is very underpenetrated. What is the market growth of broadband that is happening, and what is the growth that we would be looking at given our geographies and our penetration? So what would be our growth estimate because we are so underpenetrated, but however, we have a lot of competition as well? So what would be our growth expectations, and what will be the market growth expectations according to this?
The market, if you see, last 2 years, it has grown from 22 million to 38 million right now. So somewhere, the market has grown at around, you can say, 50% on that way in the last 2 years, from 20 to 33 million to somewhere around 38 million right now. And if that growth rate, a bit of that growth rate, not 50%, at least 30%, 25% is maintained, then we are looking forward that the whole industry will cross 100 million within the next 4-5 years' time. So that's what we are looking forward, that if the CAGR will be maintained in this market. And also, the opportunity is very big.
As you know, BharatNet projects are coming, which is going to so growth will come from the Tier 2 cities and the rural in the broadband right now and where the infrastructure is getting made. So we are looking forward that as the infrastructure improvement will happen, this industry will grow and improve from the time from there from there. So BharatNet project is already on the 15 states that BharatNet project is starting now. Wherever the BharatNet project is completed on those states, you will see the penetration is more. The state which is still lacking is where the BharatNet project is not there. So all those things are there in the environment. So we'll see how it will improve. But yes, we are very hopeful that the penetrations are very high in the other countries. India will witness that also with the time.
Got it. Got it. Perfect. Perfect. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.
Thanks a lot.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tanya Gupta from Green Portfolio. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. Thank you for taking my question. So my first question is, what is the update on GTPL Genie app? If you can guide us.
Yeah. So we are relaunching the Genie app. It will be launched by end of April or first week of May somewhere. So already, the app has gone into the UAT with the testing. And we are hopeful that it will be launched by end of April or first week of April, May somewhere.
Sure, sir. Sir, in quarter two, you had indicated that there were 100,000 subscribers on board. So if you can elaborate on what's the status currently?
On the GTPL Genie you're talking about?
Sorry, sir. Pardon me.
You're talking about GTPL Genie?
No, sir.
Your voice was a bit cracking. Can you repeat the question, please?
Sir, in quarter two, you had indicated that there were 100K subscribers on board. So what's the status currently?
100,000 on Genie? No, I have given somewhere around 40,000 at that time, quarter two.
Yeah. All right. 40K.
Yeah. 40,000 on that. 25,000 is from the 25, 26,000 is from the broadband. The rest is from the cable at that time. Now, it has reached around 75,000. Out of that, around 45,000 to 50,000, 45,000, 46,000 is from the broadband subscribers. The rest is from the cable subscribers.
Sir, can you guide on the timeline when we can see the definite impact of it on the performance?
Yeah. We are hopeful that we are launching the new app with TV everywhere and all those things, all those facilities with all the OTTs and all. We are hopeful that that will give the impact in the market. Yes, as you know, OTT market has a bit slowed down in the last one year, which we have seen that big OTT players also have slowed down in the subscriber base. But still, we are hopeful that we will start getting more OTT subscribers in our own universe.
That is helpful, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question comes from the line of Rakhi Mathur from Counter Cyclical Investments. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Sir, I wanted to understand our EBITDA margin. Sir, considering this broadcasting, whatever we pay to the broadcaster as well as whatever we get is a part of our business, and you need to take it as a bundle for your EBITDA margin. Sir, so what kind of margins can we maintain considering those charges or whatever we get? And what will it take for us to get more than we pay to broadcasters?
So as I said earlier also, that generally, you have to do the business by netting out what we are paying to the broadcaster and what we are taking in from the broadcasters because there, the margin of marketing and placement income is very low margin. And that is the contribution in the EBITDA is low. And that's why it is pulling out the lower margins on that way. But you have to see by netting it out and see that whether what you are paying and what you are getting from the broadcasters both are on that way and what margin you are maintaining. That's what we have given in the slide, that we are at around 24%-25%, and we are going to improve from there.
Sir, as I understand, this is a part of our business because we need to pay those charges as well as we get some of those charges. This is inbuilt in our margin. That's what I'm trying to understand, that even considering those charges, what kind of margins are sustainable on our business?
This is going to be between 17%-18%. That is going to be there. On that way, we look into that way. But I will say our operating margin, we look into that way, into the way which I say by netting it out so that we can know that, okay, what we are doing in the business, whether we are improving or whether we are going down. Because here, the margin changes all the time. Somewhere, some marketing incentive and all, we are getting 9%. Somewhere, we are getting 50%. Somewhere, we are getting 2%. Somewhere, we are getting 3%. It depends on the different parties. So that's why the margin varies on that.
Okay. And sir, my next question would be, sir, the broadband ARPU growth that we have seen, sir, so do we so what kind of growth, price hike can we expect from the broadband side? Or this is being dictated by the bigger players, and we just take whatever we can?
No, we are going to see. Last three years, we have improved from somewhere 650 to 1 million now for broadband. So three years back, we were saying that, "Yeah, we are going to somewhere increase by 50%-60%." That's what we did right now. We are looking forward that we will maintain that growth from 1 million subscriber base from here. We are going to add between 100-150K every year. And we will reach somewhere around in the next three years, somewhere between 1.4-1.5 million within that subscriber base. So that's where we are going to maintain.
Sir, no. Sir, regarding the ARPU growth, that is 460 for FY 2024. So where do we see this going forward? So do we take price hikes based on our own internal guidelines, or is it dictated by the bigger players? That was my question.
No, broadband is the volume game right now, not the value game. We are maintaining our ARPU in this competitive market. And we will try to do that to maintain our ARPU throughout. Flex through volume, we are going to improve. As I say, that this market is very, very big. It's just starting up right now. We're setting a cool subscriber base every day. We are looking forward that it will go up to 150 million in the next 5-7 years as an industry. So yes, we have to maintain our ARPU, which we are doing in this competitive market. And we have to play the volume game.
Okay. Sir, that was helpful. Just my final question, sir, what would be the average ARPU that we are expecting from the GTPL Genie?
GTPL Genie is more for the stickiness rather than making the revenue. If you see, the lowest price there is INR 119 for 7 apps, which is this, and monthly, which is going up to somewhere around INR 300 for 3 apps on the monthly side if you're talking about. So there, it is more for my customer for the stickiness rather than making the revenue out of that. Yes, we are making the margin of around 18%-20% of that business also. So that's the range which we are looking forward, somewhere the ARPU will probably pull back 119 to 300. And the margin will be somewhere between 18%-20%.
Thank you. Members of the management, I believe Mr. Rakhi has dropped from the question queue. So we'll take the next question. That will be from the line of Raj from Arjav Partners. Please go ahead.
Hello. Am I audible?
Yes, I'm still going.
Sir, I skipped a point on the app part, which you are intending to launch at the end of April and in May. Can you elaborate on the app, what exactly it is, and what incremental revenues are we expect from it?
So that, it's a completely B2C application for the consumer where the consumer can see the TV everywhere, can watch OTT application, any OTT application where the consumer can use directly to the any OTT, the paid OTT or free OTT, or he can watch any linear TVs also with the app. That is, we are completely launching. It's a completely multi-triple B2C application where it's so GTPL customer here, whether it is on a cable TV or broadband, he gets free application service on the linear TV side also. And yes, we get OTT also.
All right. All right. और ये जो ऐप है, इसकी आपने कितनी cost अभी तक incurred की है app development में? [Foreign language]
Nahin, woh that is, it's we'll let you know ek baar aapse alag se baat karenge tab. [Foreign language]
Understood. And whoever subscribes to the internet, so they get the app for free. Is it like that?
Yeah, yeah. If the customer is for GTPL ISP customers or GTPL Limited customers, he'll get free.
All right. Okay, sir. Thank you so much. Have a good day. Bye.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and one to ask a question. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you. I would like to express my thanks to every participant who took their time out to attend the call. For any queries, please feel free to connect to Orient Capital, who are our investor relations advisors. Thank you once again. Have a good day.
Thank you. On behalf of Emkay Global Financial Services, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.