HT Media Q1 FY17 revenues up 7.5% at Rs 6,624 mn

HT Media has reported a 7.5 per cent increase in its total revenues in the first quarter ended June 30, 2016 at Rs 6,624 million from Rs 6,161 million in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. Advertising revenue was up 3.3 per cent at Rs 4,837 million from Rs 4,683 million primarily due to increase in advertising volumes. Circulation revenue increased by 5.9 per cent to Rs 772 million in Q1 FY17 from Rs 729 million primarily due to higher net realisation rate per copy.

EBITDA was up by 28.3 per cent than last year at Rs 1,121 million from Rs 873 million primarily due to increase in other income and growth in advertising and circulation revenues being off-set by 2 per cent increase in raw material costs and 8.8 per cent increase in employee costs and only 2.6 per cent increase in SG&A. EBITDA margins for Q1 FY17 stood at 16.9 per cent vis-a-vis 14.2 per cent last year.

Profit after tax (PAT) was up by 2.1 per cent to Rs 393 million in Q1 FY17 from Rs 384 million in Q1 FY16, primarily due to higher EBITDA being off-set by higher amortisation and interest costs with regard to new radio stations. PAT margins stood at 5.9 per cent.

HT Media also reported strong balance sheet position with net cash of Rs 8,234 million.

EPS for the quarter stood at Rs 0.96, compared to Rs 1.06 last year.

Radio business

HT Media reported 35.2 per cent increase in radio revenues at Rs 332 million in Q1 FY17 from Rs 245 million in Q1 last year, driven by new radio station launches.

EBITDA was flat at Rs 95 million with margins at 25.6 per cent, compared to 35.9 per cent during the same period last year. Dilution in margins is attributed to new radio station launch related expenses and impact of higher license fee costs.

Digital business

The digital segment recorded 25 per cent increase in revenues to Rs 382 million from Rs 306 million in the same quarter last year. Shine.com registered revenue growth of 65 per cent in Q1 FY17 vis-a-vis Q1 last year. HT Mobile registered a revenue growth of 3.5 per cent in Q1 FY17 Vs Q1 last year.

Commenting on the results and performance, Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media, said, “The first quarter of this year started on a cautious note with tepid top line growth. Macroeconomic concerns translated into restricted spends by large advertisers and affected our English Print business more than Hindi Print, while our other businesses continued to do well. Our new radio stations, Radio Nasha 107.2 in Delhi and 91.9 in Mumbai are now operational and receiving rave reviews, while our digital business continues to grow and reduce its losses.”

She further said, “We remain optimistic that sentiment will improve in the second half of the year, on the back of a good monsoon and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations. With infrastructure already in place, we are well placed to leverage our inherent strengths to realise benefits of an uptick in the economy.”

The strategic focus ahead for HT Media includes:

Driving profitability of newly launched radio stations.

Improving profitability of the Digital segment by focusing on growing revenue exponentially.

Leveraging the strong balance sheet (net cash of Rs 8,234 million) to fund expansion.