MUMBAI: HT Media Limited has reported a 33 per cent increase in revenues for the quarter ended 30 June 2006 to Rs. 2.48 billion, compared to Rs 1.86 billion a year ago. This is driven primarily by contributions from the Mumbai operations which was launched in July 2005, the company said in a release.

Enhanced operating efficiencies and robust ad revenue growth resulted in a 113.3 per cent improvement in operating profits (EBITDA) for the quarter which increased to Rs 606.2 million. The operating margin for the quarter improved to 24.5 per cent from 15.3 per cent last year.

Pre-tax profits recorded a substantial increase from Rs 154.2 million last year to Rs 473.6 million in Q1FY2007. Net profit for the quarter under review, when compared with corresponding period last year, more than trebled to Rs 306.3 million from Rs 98.1 million, translating into an EPS (non-annualized) of Rs 6.53.

Commentiing on the performance HT Media vice chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia said: “Our performance during the quarter has been very encouraging. We are pleased to report that our Mumbai operations are performing in line with plan, enabling us to attract national advertisers and better rates. In addition to being a leader in the English market, we are also one of the country’s largest players in the Hindi segment where we are expanding our footprint. Our operations continue to be fundamentally robust, and we intend to make further investments in new growth initiatives during the current year. Our growth strategy is working as intended and we believe that the outlook for the full year is quite strong.