DB Corp Q3FY21 net profit up 21% to Rs 99 crore

DB Corp Limited (DBCL), the publisher of Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar, on Thursday reported a 21.33% increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 99.03 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 81.62 crore in the October-December quarter previous fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.

However, its revenue from operations slipped 17.4% to Rs 494.32 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 598.74 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

“Advertising revenues are reclaiming pre-Covid levels (YOY), and with the festive season providing a strong impetus, we have reached print business advertising at 87% of last year Qtr 3 with festival months of October and November together seen advertising revenue achievement of 95%,” DB Corp said.

The Print business EBITDA in Q3 FY2021 stood at Rs 169.9 crore (EBIDTA margin of

36.8%) as against Rs 138 (EBIDTA Margin of 24.7%) crore last year, which translated into an

EBITDA margin expansion by almost 1200 basis points, underscoring the benefits of improved

economic performance, soft newsprint prices and cost cutting measures.

Performance highlights for Q3 FY2021 – Consolidated

- Advertising revenue stood at Rs 366.7 crore as against Rs 424.8 crore

- Circulation revenue stood at Rs 108.2 crore as against Rs 132.1 crore

- Total revenue came in at Rs 496.6 crore as against Rs 601.8 crore

- EBIDTA grew by 16% YOY at Rs 167.9 crore (34% margin) as against Rs 144.7 crore (margin of 24%), after considering forex loss of Rs 33 lakh

- PAT grew by 21.3% YOY at Rs 99 crore as against Rs 81.6 crore, after considering forex

loss of Rs 30 lakh

- Radio business:

- Advertising revenue at Rs 29.1 crore versus Rs 37.2 crore

- EBIDTA stands at Rs 10.8 crore versus Rs 13.5 crore

- PAT at Rs 4.4 crore versus profit of Rs 6.2 crore

Performance highlights for YTD 9M FY2021 – Consolidated

- Circulation revenue stood at Rs 304.3 crore as against Rs. 392.1 crore

- Advertising revenue stood at Rs 700.1 crore as against Rs 1233.8 crore

- Total revenue came in at Rs 1062.1 crore as against Rs 1746.5 crore

- EBIDTA stood at Rs 214.6 crore as against Rs 424.9 crore after considering forex gain of Rs 66 lakh

- PAT stood at Rs 79.5 crore as against Rs 250.9 crore, after considering forex gain of Rs. 66 lakh

- Radio Business:

- Advertising revenue at Rs 55.3 crore versus Rs 106.5 crore last year

- EBIDTA at Rs 7.4 crore versus Rs 33.4 crore

- Net loss came in at Rs 5.7 crore versus Net profit of Rs 16.4 crore

Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp, said, “Fiscal 2021 has undoubtedly been a challenging and difficult year for all of us. With the brightest minds in the world working together, there finally seems to be some light at the end of this long and arduous tunnel and hopefully the widespread availability of the vaccine will help all of us get a semblance of normalcy back in our lives.

“The Print Industry undoubtedly dealt a severe blow by the pandemic and while the economy gets back on track slowly, Tier-II and Tier-III cities have not only bounced back stronger than most of the country but are leading the charge and have seen considerable improvement, especially in the festive season. The pandemic has further strengthened the divide between India and Bharat when it comes to the Print Industry. Indian language newspapers are doing well not only in circulation numbers and pagination, but as advertisers turn their focus from the metros to smaller cities, advertising revenue is also set to see growth.

“For Dainik Bhaskar Group, the advertising revenues have seen a significant increase and our sustainable cost optimisation measures have given us permanent gains and this is reflected in improved operating performance. We are hopeful that this will set the pace for the forthcoming fiscal.”

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