DB Corp shows stellar Q1 performance

Largest print media company reports a 10% jump in revenues, and higher EBITDA and PAT. Radio business also shows strong performance

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | July 18, 2014

DB Corp has announced its financial results for the first quarter ending June 2014. DBCL is India's largest print media company which owns the newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar.

According to a press release sent by the company to the stock exchanges, the company's total revenues have increased by 10% from Rs 498.7 crore to Rs 454.9 crore reported in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Revenues from advertising have been reported at Rs 373 crore, a jump of 8% from last year's Rs 345.7 crore. EBITDA margin for the quarter was at 29% at Rs 144.1 crore against Rs 137.4 crore, while PAT stood at Rs 79 crore from last year's Rs 76 crore, a healthy rise of 16% q-o-q.

Meanwhile, DB Corp's advertising revenues in the radio business have expanded by 21% to Rs 20.7 crore, up from last year's Rs 17.2 crore. The radio business EBITDA stood at Rs 7.3 crpre and PAT at Rs 3.5 crore.

The digital business for DB Corp has shown strong growth with revenues growing 134% at Rs 5.9 crore from Rs 2.5 crore reported in the corresponding previous quarter. The EBITDA losses have also been reduced to Rs 8 million from Rs 3 crore.

Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Ltd, said, “We are happy to report a sound performance to start our fiscal year that reflects that we have sustained our growth momentum. We have maintained our strengths and leadership position in all our legacy markets as we also continue to demonstrate good growth in our emerging editions. Having already demonstrated operational excellence in the print business, we have also maintained a similar focus and emphasis on DBCL's non-print segments spanning our digital and radio initiatives. Both these segments hold tremendous potential to capitalise on over the next few years, given India's still nascent exposure to internet penetration and yet one of the largest and fastest growing digital markets. We have successfully leveraged our strengths in the print medium to deliver robust growth in the digital and radio businesses also and are in the process of achieving greater scale as well as being well placed to take advantage of future growth opportunities. On an overall basis, we have continued to capitalise on organisational efficiencies, expense management and maintained a strong momentum across print and non-print segments, supported by innovative brand development endeavours and a reader-centric approach that continues to drive growth.”

Other than the financial results, the company has also shared other achievements. 'Aspiring Growth', a case study on the launch of Dainik Bhaskar's Marathi daily, Divya Marathi, in Maharashtra, was selected as a reference case study in Harvard Business Publishing's collection of cases. The case study was written by Prof Seema Gupta of IIM-Bangalore. The case study on the launch of Divya Marathi provides interesting insights into the unique media environment in India with extensive focus on the importance of local journalism.

Dainik Bhaskar group won 3 Abby awards at GoaFest 2014, and two awards at the Asian Customer Engagement Awards as well as the best CSR Practices Award 2014.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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