DB Corp's Revenue Rises By 29% In FY22

DB Corp Limited (DBCL), the parent company of the newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi, and Saurashtra Samachar, has announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2021. The company's consolidated income increased by 29 per cent to Rs 451.3 crore in Q2 FY22, up from Rs 349.8 crore in Q2 FY21, as circulation reached 92-95 per cent of pre-Covid circulation copies and print business advertising reached 82 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

Advertising income increased by 34% during the quarter to Rs 302.9 crore, up from Rs 226.3 crore on a higher basis last year. Circulation revenue increased 12.2 per cent to Rs 115.9 crore from Rs 103.3 crore.

EBITDA saw a 42% surge to Rs 105.4 crore (23% margin) as against Rs. 74.5 crore (margin of 21%), aided by stringent cost control measures and despite large digital business investment for future growth. Net profit stands at Rs 53.8 crore, as against Rs 28.5 crore.

The company's advertising revenue from the radio business expanded by 58% to Rs 28.7 crore versus Rs 18.2 crore. EBITDA grew 3.2 times to Rs 8.7 crore versus Rs 2.7 crore.

“With the pandemic creating a sombre environment in the past few quarters, we are pleased that the cloud of despair seems to have been lifted with a strong wave of positive sentiments flowing in. We had always expected a good recovery, but the robust momentum that we are witnessing in our key Tier-II, Ill and beyond markets is truly encouraging. With this broad-based recovery, we have not only crossed our performance of last year but are on track to reach our performance of 2019 or before the pandemic started,” said Sudhir Agarwal, MD, DB Corp.

“This, we believe, is a testament to our well-thought-out strategy, editorial integrity, and continued leadership position in the markets we operate in, making us natural partners for our advertising clients, and importantly, the first choice in newspapers for millions of readers across the country. As our digital footprint expands, we hope to be able to capture the mind-space of our readers across Print as well as Digital mediums. We will continue to strive for our stakeholders and are excited to go into the second half of the year with strong momentum.”

According to the company's quarterly update, its attempts to restore circulation to pre-covid levels have delivered excellent results, with various measures contributing to the restoration of nearly 92-95 per cent of pre-covid circulation copies, as well as cover price increases in select areas.

“Further. These efforts have resulted in expanding market share gains with an average increase of around 2-3% YOY across all markets in which the Group operates, underscoring the resilience of the group. The Dainik Bhaskar Group is well-positioned to expand its market share further owing to its superior offering, a well-oiled and efficient distribution network and strong trade connections,” it added.

The demand for print advertising space is increasing, says the company. Large-format advertising, such as gatefolds, covers, and full pages, is making a strong resurgence. Non-metros, in which Dainik Bhaskar operates, continue to be at the vanguard of the present economic revival.

“Advertisement revenues are reclaiming pre-Covid levels with the festive season providing an added push and as a result, our print business advertising stands at 82% of the pre-Covid levels i.e. Q2 FY20 despite the absence or muted performance of large categories such as Auto and Consumer Durables. All other sectors such as Real Estate. Education, BFSI, Healthcare, Retail and newer categories such as e-commerce and start-ups, are inundating the advertising space across our newspapers,” it added.

According to the company, local advertising, which accounts for about 70% of total advertising, is currently rising by a nearly double-digit percentage. The momentum of major issues continued in the previous quarter, with all editions entirely sold out and some breaking records in terms of single-day revenue produced from ad sales, it stated.

Well implemented cost optimization, operating leverage and increased revenues have aided in improving the operating margins with 200 basis points expansion YoY. Despite disruptions led by the second wave of Covid-19, DB Corp has been working towards and are well on progress to achieve almost 55%-60% of last year's operating costs savings of Rs 195 crore. The EBITDA for the Print Business in Q2FY22 came in at Rs 121.9 crore (with an EBITDA margin of 29%) as against Rs. 87.3 crore in Q2FY21 (with an EBITDA margin of 27%).

The company claimed that Dainik Bhaskar App's monthly users have increased by approximately 7 times since the beginning of 2020, owing to high-quality content development and a highly tailored product experience, as per Comscore data. Some of the key areas of initiatives by the company to spearhead growth include human resources with the fresh new digital team, investment in original news, technology up-gradation for superfast digital apps speed and editorial strategy of hyperlocal news with increasing use of videos.

It has also created a digital advisory board with the recent addition of Mark Thompson, the Ex CEO of New York Times (NYT) to the Advisory Board. “We expect him to add a lot more strategic digital expertise as Mark oversaw the entire Digital Transformation of NYT over the last decade closely and will be advising DB exclusively in the Indian market.”