Last year's Indian Premier League underdog was not exactly an underdog as far as the financials are concerned. Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures, the firm behind the Deccan Chargers cricket team of Hyderabad at IPL, has turned in profits in the first year of formation. The firm, which is a subsidiary of publicly listed media firm Deccan Chronicle Holdings, has been recently put up for sale. KPMG is advising the parent on the sale. Around 20% stake in Deccan Chargers is held by Group M, the media arm of the ad conglomerate WPP.
According to a financial report of Deccan Chargers, a copy of which is with VCCircle, the cricketing company has spun an earnings per share of Rs 30.9 on shares having par value of Rs 10 each for the period from 10 April 2008 to 22 January 2009. That is not a bad thing since the team ended up at the bottom of the table in the debut edition of domestic 20:20 cricket tournament last year.
According to the financial report, the firm earned a total income of Rs 56.6 crore for the reporting period of which Rs 24 crore came as 'income from franchisee rights' while sponsorship fees brought in Rs 15.8 crore. Income from ads and ticket sales brought in another Rs 16.4 crore and there was other income worth Rs 40 lakh.
As against this, players' cost was pegged at Rs 22.7 crore. Operating and other expenses totalled Rs 13.39 crore and depreciation was at Rs 17.12 crore. The firm clocked PBT of Rs 3.15 crore and carried forward Rs 2.05 crore as PAT to the balance sheet.
Details for other teams of IPL is not in the public domain.
However, what is to be looked at is how the firm has funded the fee the firm would have paid to BCCI for the franchisee rights. The books show unsecured loans worth Rs 385.23 crore as amount payable to BCCI towards franchisee rights acquired last year. The franchisee rights were acquired by Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures for Rs 428.04 crore.
For more details on Deccan Chargers, see the Wikipedia entry.
