BENGALURU: DB Corp Limited (DB Corp), home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Dainik Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar reported a 0.4 per cent fall in YoY Total Income from Operations (TIO) in the quarter ended 30 September, 2015 (Q2-2016, current quarter). The company reported a TIO of Rs 478.33 crore in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 480.21 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and a one per cent growth as compared to the Rs 473.36 crore in Q1-2016.
Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore
(2) The figures mentioned in this report are consolidated figures unless stated otherwise.
Segment Numbers
The company reports revenue from five segments: Printing and publishing of newspaper and periodicals (Printing segment); Radio segment; Events; Internet; and power. Two of the segments are major contributors to the revenue – printing and radio and their numbers have been considered below.
Radio segment
DB Corp’s radio segment reported a 5.2 per cent growth in operating revenue to Rs 23.96 crore in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 22.77 crore in Q2-2015 and 11.5 per cent more than the Rs 21.50 crore in Q1-2016. The segment reported an eight per cent drop in operating profit to Rs 6.04 crore in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 6.57 crore in Q2-2015, but 48 per cent more than the Rs 4.08 crore in the immediate previous quarter. The company’s radio business PAT stands at Rs 4 crore.
Radio segment EBIDTA declined 6.7 per cent in Q2-2016 to Rs 8 crore as compared to the Rs 8.6 crore in Q2-2015, but grew 31.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 6.1 crore in Q1-2016.
Printing segment
The company’s printing segment reported a 1.6 per cent decline in operating revenue at Rs 442.24 crore in Q2-2016 as compared to the Rs 449.32 crore in Q2-2015, but 0.5 per cent more than the Rs 440.19 crore in Q1-2016. The segment reported a 6.2 per cent decline in operating result to Rs 93.91 crore as compared to the Rs 110.07 crore in Q2-2015 and was 6.2 per cent lower than the Rs 108.56 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
DB Corp’s profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined 13.2 per cent to Rs 59.12 crore as compared to the Rs 68.11 crore in Q2-2015 and declined 11 per cent as compared to the Rs 66.46 crore in Q1-2016.
DB Corp achieved EBIDTA margins of 24 per cent at Rs 117.1 crore from Rs 127.1 crore in Q2-2015, after factoring in forex loss of Rs 1.56 million and its Bihar launch preoperative expenditure of Rs 2.77 crore.
Total Expenditure in the current quarter grew 2.8 per cent to Rs 388.14 crore as compared to the Rs 377.53 crore in Q2-2015 and was 4.3 per cent more than the Rs 372.30 crore in Q1-2016. Raw Material consumption in Q2-2016 declined 7.7 per cent to Rs 149.69 crore as compared to the Rs 162.09 crore in Q2-2015 and was 3.4 per cent more than the Rs 144.74 crore in Q1-2016.
Advertising and Circulation revenue
The company says that its advertising revenue declined to Rs 343.3 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 316 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year on account of the impact of the difference in the dates of the Navratri festival during the years FY-2015 and FY-2016.
Circulation revenue increased 16 per cent in Q2-2016 to Rs 105.7 crore as compared to the Rs 91.5 crore, primarily due to yield driven growth, largely coming from its mature markets.
Company speak
DB Corp managing director Sudhir Agarwal said, “This quarter we established another expansion milestone as we consolidated our presence in Bihar, a region of strong strategic importance and we are able to provide a better reach to our advertisers and cater to an under-tapped, yet potential readership base. The yield strategy we have adopted has begun delivering good results as is evident from a consistent growth in yields. We are patiently continuing to have intensive successful discussions with our national and local level advertisers who have supported our yield strategy and highly appreciate the value we bring to support their plans. We are committed to strengthen these relationships as we progress.”
“DB Digital has been performing well as we continue to gather commendable momentum with 177 per cent growth in page views and unique visitors. Our radio business strategy to be the market leading radio business in ‘Unmetro ‘ regions is well aligned to print business and with the recent acquisition of 14 frequencies in the Phase III auctions, we are now strongly placed to offer compelling package and reach to advertisers in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, CPH and Gujarat. On an overall basis, we continue to take all measures to leverage our strengths across print, radio and digital businesses to drive growth aggressively, while also ensuring that we continue to achieve better organisational efficiencies.“
