DB Corp’s Q3 FY2022 revenues up 10.6% at Rs 5,495 mn, but net profit sees decline

DB Corp Ltd, India’s largest print media company and home to flagship newspapers – Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar – has reported 10.6% growth in its Total Revenue for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021 at Rs 5,495 million as against Rs 4,966 million in the corresponding quarter of FY2021. Operating margin at the consolidated level stood strong at 27%, notwithstanding increase in newsprint prices.

EBIDTA stood at Rs 1,459 million (27% margin) as against Rs 1,679 million (margin of 34%), aided by stringent cost control measures and despite large digital business investment for future growth. The EBITDA for the Print Business in Q3 FY2022 came in at Rs 1,590 million (with an EBIDTA margin of 31%). YTD December’ 21 Print Business EBIDTA grew by around 30% YOY at Rs 3,190 million as against Rs 2,460 million, with EBIDTA margin expanded by 150 basis points YOY.

However, Net Profit declined to Rs 865 million in Q3 FY2022, from Rs 990 million in Q3 FY2021. Print Business Profit before Tax for Q3 FY2022 was reported at Rs 1,347 million.

DB Corp’s advertising revenues have shown good growth on the back of the festive season in Q3, coupled with a shift in advertisers from traditional metro-focused approach to non-metros. New-age businesses and local advertisers are providing additional revenue streams as they look to tap demand in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Traditional sectors such as Education, Real Estate, Automobiles, FMCG, Life Style, Consumer Durables, etc., continue to look to Indian Language newspapers for their geo-targeted ad campaigns. Advertising Revenue grew by 7.7% to Rs 3,951 million in Q3 FY2022 as against Rs 3667 million in Q3 FY2021, on a comparative higher base of last year. For the Group, the print business advertising stood at 92% of the pre-Covid levels, that is, Q3 FY2020.

Circulation Revenue grew by 5.5% at Rs 1,141 million in this quarter, as against Rs 1,082 million in Q3 FY2021.

Radio business

Advertising Revenue from DB Corp’s Radio business grew by 29.3% in Q3 FY2022 at Rs 376 million versus Rs 291 million in Q3 of the previous fiscal. EBIDTA grew by 36% at Rs 147 million versus Rs 108 million.

The Group’s FM radio player, My FM, continues to augment Audience-Connect and listeners’ engagement activities through innovative content creation. My FM’s market share increased by 35% in the nine months of FY2022. Volume growth outpaced across sectors such as lifestyle, real estate, banking, state government and FMCG for the quarter. My FM has seen average utility growth of 27% over last year for 9M FY2022. VALUE 7 Stations reported 26% growth over last year in 9M FY2022. SMART 10 Stations reported 28% growth over last year in 9M FY2022. Phase III Stations recorded 25% growth over last year in 9M FY2022.

Commenting on the performance for Q3 FY2022, Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Ltd, said, “While the cases of Omicron are surging, the impact on the ground is much less severe as compared to the previous two waves, with a combination of vaccines, lower levels of hospitalisation and a reduction of the fear associated with Covid, helping in keeping the overall sentiment strong.”

He further said, “The momentum that had started in the previous quarter has extended significantly in this quarter with the Group recording strong QoQ and YoY growth on a reasonable base. We are seeing renewed vigour in advertising revenues, with new categories starting to look towards Print for their ad spend, coupled with select traditional categories like Real Estate, Education, Jewellery that have bounced back to pre-Covid levels. The other large traditional sectors are beginning to show signs of revival and that underscores further growth potential. As the market leader in Indian Language Print, backed with strong editorial integrity, we are a natural choice for advertisers, both new age as well as the traditional as they look to create localised and targeted ad campaigns.”

“Our focus in the past few quarters has been to create parallelly a strong digital footprint for Dainik Bhaskar group, and we are happy to report that our efforts are yielding results with our websites and apps showing remarkable growth in reader engagement. We are working hard to close the fourth quarter on a strong note and continue to work towards meeting the expectation of all our stakeholders,” Agarwal added.