BENGALURU: DB Corp Limited (DBCL), home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Dainik Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar reported good standalone results for Q3-2014 (Quarter ended December 31, 2013). Its overall PAT for Q3-2014 at Rs 94.83 crore grew by a healthy 30.7 per cent from the Rs 72.55 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year and grew by 52.7 per cent as compared to the Rs 62.12 crore during the immediate trailing quarter.
Consolidated PAT for Q3-2014 grew by about 34 per cent y-o-y at Rs 94.5 crore (PAT margin 18 per cent) against Rs 70.6 crore (PAT margin 15.9 per cent) in Q3 of last year. This increase in PAT factors onetime pre-operative expense of Rs 4.47 crore for Patna-Bihar new launches as well as forex gain of Rs 1.302 crore.
DBCL radio business revenue for Q3-2014 at Rs 23.82 crore was 24.85 per cent higher than the Rs 19.08 crore for Q3-2013 and was 38.8 per cent more than the Rs 17.09 crore for Q2-2014. The segment showed almost double (1.84 times) the positive result at Rs 8.51 crore for Q3-2014 as compared to the Rs 4.62 crore for Q3-3014 and more than triple (3.34 times) the Rs 2.54 crore for Q2-2014.
DBCL’s radio business advertising revenues have expanded by about 25 per cent y-o-y to Rs 23.9 crore in Q3-2014, against Rs 19.2 crore in Q3 of 2013.
The company has shown reduced Capital Employed (Segment assets - Segment liabilities) for its radio business during Q3-2014 at Rs 48.14 crore which was 20.3 per cent lower than the Rs 57.92 crore in Q3-2013 and almost flat as compared to the Rs 47.83 crore for Q2-2014.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by DBCL for Q3-2014
The main major contributor to revenue in the case of DB Corp is Printing and Publishing of Newspaper and Periodicals. This segment showed revenue of Rs 488.63 crore for Q3-2014, up 17.2 per cent as compared to the Rs 416.83 crore y-o-y and up 17.4 per cent q-o-q as compared the Rs 416.16 crore for Q2-2014. This segment showed improved positive results for Q3-2014 at Rs 135.7 crore for Q3-2014, 25 per cent more than the Rs 108.2 crore for Q3-2014 and a whopping 42 per cent more than the Rs 95.6 crore for Q2-2014.
Capital Employed (Segment assets - Segment liabilities) by the Printing and Publishing of Newspaper and Periodicals segment at Rs 1394.62 crore during Q3-2014 was 18 per cent higher than the Rs 1181.51 crore for Q3-2013 and 4.3 per cent more than the Rs 1294.46 crore for the immediate trailing quarter.
The other revenue segments in the case of DBCL are events, internet and power, with all the three showing a combined revenue of about Rs 6.47 crore and combined negative segment result of Rs 2.53 crore.
Total standalone expense for Q3-2014 at Rs 373.04 crore was 13.7 per cent more than the Rs 328.41 crore for Q3-2013 and 9.8 per cent more than the Rs 340.3 crore for the immediate previous quarter with two expense heads showed a major increase as compared to the other expense heads.
The company saw a 19.6 per cent rise in raw material consumption to Rs 172.41 crore in Q3-2014 as compared to the Rs 144.13 crore y-o-y and 14.7 per cent more than the Rs 150.34 crore q-o-q.
Other expense for Q3-2014 at Rs 1,126.4 crore was 12.8 per cent more than the Rs 99.81 crore for Q3-2013 and 9.9 per cent more than the Rs 102.49 crore for Q2-2014.
The company’s total consolidated revenue has shown a growth of about 19 per cent y-o-y to Rs 525.4 crore in Q3-2014 against Rs 442.9 crore of Q3 of last fiscal.
The company reported a growth in revenue from advertising by 18.2 per cent y-o-y Rs 403.5 crore in Q3-2013 from Rs 341.2 crore in Q3 last fiscal. DBCL says that excluding barter and private treaty, its billing in Q3-2014 of both years, ad growth is 20.5 per cent.
DB Corp managing director Sudhir Agarwal said, “We are pleased with the good start to this year as we report a healthy performance in the third quarter. As we continue to maintain a pragmatic approach towards operational controls and higher efficiency, we have also been closely focusing on studying the marketing strategies of niche brands in Tier 2 and 3 cities that have echoed our confidence in the potential of these regions. This quarter we have seen strong focus from brands of FMCG, apparels, real estate, automobiles & government that have ramped up their respective marketing thrusts in these regions.
While, we have achieved commendable growth in legacy markets, due to our relentless focus and ability to provide a differentiated product, we are excited with our progress in newer regions of Jharkhand, Maharashtra and now Bihar. We are set to launch in Patna- State of Bihar on 18th January ‘2014 which is of strategic importance for DBCL – the region being one of India’s most dynamic and developing states.
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