HT Media's Q2 FY16 profit dips 17% to Rs 36.42 cr

The EBITDA for Q2 FY16 stood at Rs 108.3 crore, registering a marginal increase of 2.2 per cent from Rs 106 crore in Q2 FY15, while income from operations was up 7 per cent

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 29, 2015

HT Media has reported a 17 per cent dip in its Q2 FY16 profit after tax, minority interest and share of associates to Rs 36.42 crore from Rs 43.89 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Income from operations for Q2 FY16 stood at Rs 601.6 crore, up by 7 per cent from Rs 560.9 crore recorded in Q2 of the previous fiscal.

Other income of Rs 45.6 crore took HT Media's total income to Rs 647.2 crore in Q2 FY16, a growth of 8.8 per cent over the corresponding quarter last fiscal, where the figure stood at Rs 594.8 crore.

The EBITDA for Q2 FY16 stood at Rs 108.3 crore, registering a marginal increase of 2.2 per cent from Rs 106 crore in Q2 FY15.

HT Media posted a 6.7 per cent growth in advertising revenues for Q2 FY16 at Rs 474.2 crore from Rs 444.4 crore in Q2 FY15 primarily due to increase in advertising volumes.

In Q2 FY16, the company recorded a 5.2 per cent increase in circulation revenues to Rs 75.4 crore from Rs 71.7 crore in Q2 FY15 largely due to higher circulation.

Profit after tax, minority interest and share of associates for the half year ended September 30, 2015 was Rs 61.37 crore, down by 19.84 per cent from the corresponding period last fiscal, where it posted a figure of Rs 76.56 crore.

The EBITDA for H1 FY16 stood at Rs 193.3 crore, down by 6.8 per cent from Rs 207.4 crore recorded in the the corresponding period last fiscal.

Commenting on the quarterly results, Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media, said, “Our performance this quarter has been satisfactory despite subdued economic activity and tepid markets. Our English publications saw a growth in revenue even after factoring in a base effect, and this was driven by growth in both HT Mumbai and Mint. Hindustan continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience and saw high growth rates. We successfully acquired the stations of our choice in the Phase 3 FM auctions. The digital business grew in terms of revenue and saw a fall in losses. We are excited by the opportunities on offer, the prospects of our various businesses and are confident of executing on our plans in the coming months.”

Segment wise results

Printing and publishing of newspaper and periodicals

HT Media's print portfolio includes Hindustan Times, Hindustan (through its subsidiary) and business daily Mint. The company also publishes two Hindi magazines, 'Nandan' and 'Kadambini', through its subsidiary Hindustan Media Ventures.

During Q2 FY16, HT Media's core business fetched revenues of Rs 538.08 crore, up by 5.35 per cent from the corresponding period last fiscal (Rs 510.75 crore).

The revenues for the half year ended September 30, 2015 stood at Rs 1070.52 crore, as against Rs 1012.20 crore in H1 FY15.

Profit before tax and minority interest for Q2 FY16 for the print business was Rs 65.36 crore, as against a profit of Rs 67.04 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Profit before tax and minority interest for H1 FY16 was Rs 144.65 crore, up by 9.9 per cent from the corresponding period last fiscal, where the figure was Rs 131.59 crore.

Radio broadcast and entertainment

HT Media operates its FM radio business under the Fever FM brand in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. During the quarter, HT Media successfully participated in the e-auction of first batch of private FM Radio (Phase 3) winning 10 new FM stations for an aggregate non-refundable one time entry fee of Rs 340 crore, which it has duly paid.

During the quarter, HT Media also acquired the radio business of Noble Broadcasting Corporation, named as Aha FM in Chennai, for Rs 7.35 crore. HT Media will now have radio footprint across six metro markets and in all key towns of Uttar Pradesh.

HT Media's radio businesses fetched revenues of Rs 29.34 crore in Q2 FY16, up by 20.49 per cent from the corresponding quarter last fiscal, where it recorded revenues of Rs 24.35 crore.

In the half year ended September 30, 2015, revenues from the radio business rose to Rs 53.86 crore from Rs 48.32 crore in H1 FY15.

EBITDA grew by 31.3 per cent to Rs 12.4 crore from Rs 9.5 crore, with EBITDA margin at 35 per cent in Q2 FY16 as against a margin of 35.7 per cent in Q2 FY15.

In Q2 FY16, profit before tax and minority interest for the radio business was recorded at Rs 3.84 crore, down by 42.16 per cent from the corresponding quarter last fiscal, where the radio business posted profit of Rs 6.64 crore.

Profit before tax and minority interest for H1 FY16 stood at Rs 10.52 crore as against Rs 11.21 crore in H1 FY15.

Digital business

HT Media operates a job portal in the Internet space, Shine.com. This is in addition to the existing websites – livemint.com and hindustantimes.com. The digital business posted revenues of Rs 33.91 crore, an increase of 36 per cent from the corresponding quarter last fiscal where the figure stood at Rs 24.93 crore.

The company reported loss before tax and interest of Rs 18.35 crore in Q2 FY16, as against loss of Rs 14.7 crore in Q2 FY15.

The revenues for H1 FY16 stood at Rs 64.47 crore, up by 32.52 per cent from the same period last fiscal, where it had reported revenues of Rs 48.65 crore. Loss before tax and interest for the half year ended September 30, 2015 was Rs 42.23 crore, as against loss of Rs 26.89 crore during the same period last fiscal.

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