Tag: HT Media

Q1-2016 TRAI report: Radio industry performance improves

BENGALURU: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released combined advertisement (Ad) revenues of 239 private FM radio stations for the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2016) a few days ago. There were a total of 243 radio stations in the India as on that date.

Trends across 16 consecutive quarters (four fiscal years)

Please refer to Figures A and B below. The all India simple average revenue per radio station and the QoQ and YoY (year on year) change has been calculated using TRAI data – the overall ad revenue mentioned by TRAI divided by the number of radio stations, which have reported revenue numbers to TRAI.

As has been the trend over the period mentioned above, Q1 of a year is generally the leanest quarter in terms of ad revenue as per TRAI data. The second quarter – Q2 has the next lowest average ad revenues per station. Over the last two consecutive years FY-2014 and FY-2015, the highest ad revenue per radio station per year has been reported for the third quarter (Q3), while in FY-2012 and FY-2013, the highest ad revenue was reported in Q4, so there is a tie for the first and the second highest quarters in terms ad revenue per station between Q3 and Q4.

For the year ended 31 March, 2015 (FY-2015), this website had mentioned that the numbers reported by the radio industry for the year were the probably the best (Indiantelevision link, Radioandusic link) so far. Despite an 8.88 per cent QoQ (quarter on quarter) fall in average ad revenue per station in Q1-2016, the ad average revenue per station of Rs 1.65 crore is the best yet for the first quarter over a period of four years. In Q1-2015, YoY ad revenue grew 11.90 per cent. Hence historical trends indicate that FY-2016 could be an even better year in terms of average revenue per station and overall revenues.

Note (1): (a)100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

(b) The author has taken the liberty to introduce a measure – average revenue per radio station. This is a rough yardstick and may not necessarily be indicative of a station or a networks performance, because factors such as geography and market conditions within the area of operations are among many of the factors that will also determine performance.

(c) This report is skewed more towards general financial numbers in terms of revenue and results, and not operational performance.

The TRAI report for Q1-2016

As per the TRAI report for Q1-2016, the total advertisement revenues reported by 239 radio stations was Rs 393.9 crore or Rs 1.65 crore per station. In the immediate trailing quarter of Q1-2016, that is, for Q4-2015 (quarter ended 31 March, 2015), the combined advertisement revenues reported by 241 radio stations was Rs 435.89 crore or Rs 1.81 crore per station, hence the above mentioned QoQ drop of 8.88 per cent (Rs 0.16 crore) in ad revenue per station. For Q1-2015 (quarter ended 30 June, 2014 or Q1-2015), 241 radio stations reported combined ad revenues of Rs 354.97 crore or Rs 1.47 crore per station, or the above mentioned YoY growth of ad revenue per station of 11.90 per cent or Rs 0.18 crore per station in Q1-2016.

Please refer to Fig A. The slope of the simple linear trend line (the dotted black line with a red end in Fig A below) projects that the average ad revenue per station in Q2-2016 should be about Rs 1.78 crore, which would be significantly higher than the Rs 1.66 crore reported for Q2-2015. How much this figure is in line with the actual number depends upon the numbers reported by the radio companies and revealed by TRAI. But, if one were to go by the published Q2-2016 results of some of the players in this report, the combined revenues of these sample player has gone up in double digits Q2-2016 as compared to Q1-2016, and of course are higher than those reported for Q2-2015.

Further, Figure B below indicates that QoQ fall in ad revenue per station in Q1-2016 was the second steepest fall during a 13 quarter period starting Q1-2013 (Q1-2013 as compared to Q4-2012) until Q1-2016. The steepest QoQ fall in ad revenue per station was in Q1-2013 at 9.95 percent during the same period. The highest YoY rise in ad revenue per station was in 21.31 percent in Q2-2014. Q4 is another quarter that has seen QoQ dips in ad revenue per station in FY-2014 and FY-2015. YoY, ad revenue per station has always increased between Q1-2012 and Q1-2016.

Let us look at how a few radio networks performed:

Note (2): (a) This report considers PAT posted by two radio companies (ENIL – Radio Mirchi, 32 radio stations; Jagran Prakashan – Radio City – 20 radio stations), along with operating results of DB Corp (My FM, 17 stations); B. A.G.Films (Radio Dhamaal, 10 stations); HT Media (Fever FM, four stations); and TV Today (Oye! FM, six stations), or a total of six radio networks that represent 89, or 36.63 per cent of the 243 private FM radio stations in Q1-2016.

(b) While Q3 for the current fiscal (Q3-2016) has already ended on 31 December,2015 and financial results will be declared by the players in a few weeks times, individual Q2-2016 (quarter ended 30 September, 2015) results have already been reported by them. The Q2-2016 numbers of individual players in this report have been obtained from their filings with regulatory bodies, the TRAI number for Q2-2016 has been extrapolated and could prove to be inaccurate.

(c) Revenues for the sample stations mean Total Income from Operations and generally include ad revenue and other operating revenues.

(d) Phase III and other radio stations acquisitions: ENIL has received permission from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) to acquire four stations from TV Today Network Limited (Oye! FM), viz., those at Amritsar, Patiala, Shimla and Jodhpur – which the company says have been/will be re-branded and re-launched shortly as Mirchi, adding to its North India network strength. With another seven stations acquired in phase III auctions, the core Mirchi brand will now be available in 43 cities. There are/will be a total of 39 FM radio stations that Jagran Prakashan Limited currently has. This includes the existing 20 radio stations plus 11 stations acquired in phase III auctions and eight radio stations under the brand Radio Mantra. Radio Mantra was earlier operated by Shri Puran Multimedia, Jagran’s promoter group. Besides, the group also runs a web radio network with 21 web radio streams under Planetradiocity.com. During the Phase III auctions, DB Corp (My FM) acquired 14 frequencies, through which MY FM will extend its presence to seven states and 30 cities with 31 stations. HT Media acquired 10 radio frequencies during phase III auctions, taking its total radio stations to 14. However these changes are not considered here, for this report pertains to the period before the new stations were acquired.

Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL) that operates brand Radio Mirchi is the only separately listed radio company in India and one of the most profitable ones by far. Other stations/radio brands of consequence, whose results are within the public domain have been considered in this report.

Please refer to Figure C below. The curved black line with a red extrapolated end (curve D in Figure C below) indicates the all India average ad revenue per station as per TRAI data. Three radio networks had average revenue per station that has consistently been higher than the all India average. Revenue per station was the highest in the case of Fever FM (Curve A in the Figure C below) at Rs 6.13 crore in Q1-2016 and 7.34 crore in Q2-2016, followed by Radio Mirchi (Curve B in Fig C below) with Rs 3.17 crore in Q1-2016 and Rs 3.63 crore in Q2-2016. Radio City (Curve C in Fig C below) also reported average revenue per station of Rs 2.37 crore in Q1-2016 (43.64 per cent more than the all India average ad revenue per station of Rs 1.65 crore) and Rs 2.78 crore in Q2-2016.

The other three – Dhamaal (Curve G in Fig C below), My FM (curve E in Fig C below) and Oye! FM (curve F in Fig C below) reported lower average revenue per station than the industry average ad revenue per station.

In Q1-2016, the combined revenues of the six players fell 15.86 per cent (fell Rs 37.51 crore) QoQ to Rs 199.01 crore from Rs 236.51 crore, a drop that was significantly higher than the 8.88 per cent QoQ fall in the average ad revenue per station based on TRAI numbers. Also, YoY, the combined revenue reported by these stations increased by 7.15 per cent from Rs 185.73 crore, much lower than the 11.90 per cent YoY growth in ad revenue per station as per TRAI numbers. These combined QoQ numbers have been significantly pulled down by the 18.38 per cent QoQ drop (Rs 22.87 crore drop) in Radio Mirchi’s revenues in Q1-2016. Combined YoY increase has not been as sharp as compared to the industry average, because all the players reported lower revenue growth rates in Q1-2016 as compared to Q1-2015 than the growth rate of the all India average ad revenue per station.

The lowest QoQ fall in percentage terms in Q1-2016 was by Fever, which saw revenues drop 5.03 per cent (drop of Rs 1.30 crore), while the highest drop was 36.85 per cent (drop of Rs 1.44 crore) in the case of Oye! FM.

The highest YoY percentage growth in Q1-2016 among the six players in this report in revenues was by Radio City at 10.19 per cent (Rs 4.38 crore), while Oye! FM reported a YoY decline of 26.74 per cent (Rs 0.9 crore) in revenues in Q1-2016.

For Q2-2016, the six networks reported 15.55 per cent QoQ growth in combined revenues to Rs 229.95 crore from Rs 199.01 crore. YoY, combined revenue of the six networks in percentage terms in Q2-2016 increased 10.27 per cent (increased by Rs 21.42 crore). Dhamaal saw the highest YoY revenue growth in Q2-2016 at 25.93 per cent (0.46 crore), while Mirchi saw the highest YoY growth in Q2-2016 in absolute rupees at Rs 12.13 crore (11.65 per cent). Oye! FM saw a YoY decline in revenues of 38 per cent (declined 1.60 crore) in Q2-2016.

Fig D below indicates the operating results of four of the six networks considered in this report and Profit after tax (PAT) for the other two. While Mirchi has reported the highest profit after tax, far surpassing the operating results or EBIDTA reported by the other five, it is Fever FM that is likely to be the most profitable one, considering that during the period under consideration, it had only four radio stations in its network.

January 5, 2016
“Reaching out to the mass is our biggest challenge”: ASCI’s Benoy Roychowdhury

MUMBAI: Step outside your home and there is hardly a place where you can’t spot an advertisement — bus stops, public transports, and of course, the hoardings. At home it reaches us through the glaring television screen or through melodious jingles via radio waves, in the newspapers and newspaper inserts, in magazines and leaflets. Many advertisers know us on a first name basis and communicate with us through SMS and WhatsApp forwards. Given their all-encompassing nature, there is no shortage of ads that claim everything and anything under the sun and prey on gullible consumers.

In spite of disagreements and disapprovals on certain advertisements, people hardly raise their voice against such ads assuming it is beyond their power – a fact that poses a challenge to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

Need to be better known:

While ASCI commands considerable credibility amongst the industry operators, there is a growing need for it to be better known as an organisation. “Today pretty much all of the industry knows us. The large advertisers, the big companies who deal with us know how we function. The issue lies with the lay consumers who are directly affected by rogue and misleading advertisements,”says HT Media executive director and recently appointed ASCI chairman Benoy Roychowdhury.

“Often people come across something offensive or false, but aren’t informed enough to take action against it. When they see something offensive, they question themselves ‘what to do about it? Most of them are unaware of a body that protects their interests against advertisers, without drawing them into court litigations, etc. I think informing them about ASCI and encouraging them to actively use our help to address misleading advertisements is our biggest challenge at hand,” Roychowdhury admits.

ASCI is already taking action to redress the situation by reaching out to the consumer digitally.

Roadmap for maximum reach:

Considering the fact that gaining popularity is ASCI’s biggest challenge, Roychowdhury shares the regulatory body’s plans to launch a campaign to spread awareness of ASCI and its functions. “We are working on an advertising campaign, which we plan to put in place in the next few months. The purpose is to reach out to consumers and tell them what to do when they see some offensive advertising and familiarising them with how ASCI functions,” shares Roychowdhury.

He also adds that the agencies on board with ASCI will contribute to the concept and execution of the ad campaign ASCI is about to launch. With 2015 being the thirtieth year of ASCI’s operation, the organisation wants to send out a message through the campaign about how it has been working to protect consumers and what it has to offer. “In fact, five or six years ago, we did a similar campaign with a popular television actress with the tagline, ‘Jhoot bole kauwa kaate’”, Roychowdhury recollects.

“The second step in ASCI’s roadmap is to make it easier for consumers to reach out to ASCI and lodge their complaints. A vital step in this process was to put out an ASCI app that enables consumers to immediately share their grievances with us. Today, we have also started receiving a bulk of our complaints through emails as well, and we are also looking at other modes of communication with consumers like Whatsapp etc.,” shares Roychowdhury. His contention is that if the process to lodge a complaint becomes complicated, consumers are likely not to reach out to ASCI.

While conventional media like print and broadcast are going steadily, it is the digital media that is growing rapidly. “Hence we need to focus on ad campaigns on the digital platform as well,” he asserts. Following this directive, the organisation has upped its ante in the social media sphere in the last one and half years. “We are taking part in more online discussions and expanding our engagement with people through various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. as well,” he adds.

Digital India- an edged sword: Native advertising

While technology and digitisation has brought ASCI closer to the consumer, it has also the paved way for new marketing initiatives by advertisers using different mediums and tools that makes it harder for the self-regulatory body to implement its guidelines.

“Digital is great for ASCI as 15 percent of our complaints are digitally sent to us now. Our app allows you to take a photograph of the advertisement you want to complain about and send us through the app. 10 percent of our digital presence is through this app. To that extent digital is something great,” Roychowdhury reveals.

ASCI does not find any major problem in dealing with digital advertisers since the body believes in accepting and evolving with the society. “The real issue is that digital advertising is giving way to these so called native advertising, most of which is content driven. They fall into this grey area between content and advertising. We need to develop norms for them as we as a body do not pass any comment on content, unless it is offensive and obscene to the public,” he says.

While consumers have predominantly complained about TV Commercials, ASCI has also seen an increase in the complaints against digital advertisements rising from 5 percent in 2013-14 to 11 percent in 2014-15. The challenge is also to identify an advertisement from user uploaded content, and differentiate between advertorial and editorial.

Reassuring consumers, Roychowdhury further adds, “Thankfully there are people ahead of us in the curve in other countries like Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in UK. We are examining their rules and bylaws to figure how to incorporate them in India. Also the sheer size of the digital space is so vast that it becomes difficult to monitor each sphere of it.”

Censorship of advertisement:

Apart from mitigating issues about misleading advertisements, ASCI also has the additional responsibility to look out for advertisements that hurts people’s sentiments. Several consumers complain about vulgar and obscene advertisement to ASCI. But unlike film and television content, advertisements don’t go through a censorship screening.

Explaining the knowhow behind the process, Roychowdhury says, “We don’t pre-screen advertisement in India. Every channel has its own set of rules and regulations that the advertiser has to adhere to. Moreover, ASCI being a self-regulatory body can only provide an advertising advice when a certain advertiser approaches them with questionable content, which is not binding on them. Having said that, most of the suggestions given by us have been upheld by advertisers and have worked to their advantage.”

The parameters of judging whether an ad is offensive and vulgar are changing with times as society moves ahead and becomes more progressive. “There was a time when airing lingerie ads was unthinkable and now we don’t even flinch at them,” Roychowdhury compares. “Therefore the question of offensive content is a subjective matter and the norms keep evolving.”

“When a council member looks into such ads they take into consideration if it can cause grave or widespread offence. An ad can cause grave offense to an individual, while others will be fine with it. Secondly, we judge an advertisement based on the product it is selling. If it is for lingerie or a condom, then the advertisement’s content needs to be taken in that light. On the other hand, we will raise an eyebrow to a car advertisement having unnecessary skin show,” he explains.

Industry support:

Being a self-regulatory body comprising of all four sectors connected with Advertising — advertisers, agencies, media including broadcasters and the press and others like PR agencies, market research companies, the organisation enjoys support and reverence from its stakeholders.

“The specific reason behind why you have a self-regulatory body is because before moving the court, here is an option to settle the issues as per industry guidelines. It is challenging at times to keep our stakeholders on the same page, but if they are reminded of the option they have apart from ASCI – moving the court or going to the government, they clearly prefer us. Going to the government is a terrible option as it takes time due to bureaucratic involvement and secondly it comes at a hefty price. Whereas, ASCI addresses the issues without having to employ fancy lawyers or going through a tedious process,” explains Roychowdhury.

While Chowdhury doesn’t cringe at the idea of going to the court if any party has been given a court notice, as ASCI isn’t above the court, going by industry behaviour, advertisers tend to settle intra-industry disputes through ASCI.

“Most advertisers see us a far better option than going for either litigation or moving any other government body.” But the picture is completely different when it comes to the masses, the consumers who are directly affected by misleading advertisements.

Industry dispute:

“Lately we have observed a number of broadcasters using ASCI mails to settle their own personal score with rivals”. Roychowdhury makes it very clear that ASCI is strongly against such usage of their notices and mailers that are not included in their press releases meant for the public.

“It’s not like we are carrying out any business behind closed doors. All the decisions we make are available through our press releases on our website and people are free to go over it. But picking specific details to carry out their rivalry is uncalled for,” he says.

Out of the 1877 advertisements complained against during the year, 71 were received from industry regarding misleading advertising or unfair competitive advertising. Of these, 58 were upheld, as per ASCI’s CCC analysis report.

“We are here to promote self-regulation among advertisers, so intra-industry disputes are more than welcome at ASCI. Because the resolution takes less time thanks to our fast track mechanism for intra member complaints, we are a more preferred mode to address their grievances. What we do discourage is going to the media with individual decisions to settle personal or industry rivalry. In the long run it doesn’t benefit the industry. In fact we don’t entertain queries on such issues,” he shares.

While health and teleshopping remain an issue for ASCI to tackle, Roychowdhury informs that education has emerged as a sector that gives way to rogue advertisement.

Biggest offenders:

A majority of the advertisements against which complaints were upheld fall under the educational sector (439), followed by the healthcare sector (297) and medical services clinics (271).

“This year we also see emergence of complaints against advertisements in the automotive (69) as well as the telecom sector (58). There have been other complaints against leadership claims of media (Channels/Publications), teleshopping advertisements promising magical results and real estate advertisements as well,” Roychowdhury informs.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t find any issues with Ayurvedic and herbal product advertisers. “Ayurvedic remedies form a very respectable section of Indian traditions. ASCI doesn’t discourage advertisement of such products, as long as they don’t make unnatural claims like pills that reduce weight in a jiffy and Ayurvedic products that cure cancer, AIDS etc,” he says.

Overall, ASCI has been able to achieve close to 90 per cent compliance, which is a good figure considering ASCI is a self-regulatory body. With the backing of regulatory agencies such as the MIB as well as the DCA, Roychowdhury hopes that this number will go up in the coming year.

December 9, 2015
Q2-2016: HT Media revenue up 7.3%, PAT down; radio revenue up 20.5%

BENGALURU: HT Media Limited (HT Media) reported 7.3 per cent growth in total income from operations (TIO) for the quarter ended 30 September, 2015 (Q2-2015, current quarter) at Rs 601.55 crore as compared to the Rs 560.88 crore in Q2-2015. The current quarter’s TIO was 2.4 per cent more than the Rs 587.18 crore in Q1-2016.

HT Media’s radio segment (Fever 104 FM) reported a 20.5 per cent increase in operating revenue to Rs 29.34 crore (4.9 per cent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 24.34 crore (4.3 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and 19.7 per cent more than the Rs 24.52 crore (4.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

(2) The figures mentioned in this report are consolidated figures unless stated otherwise.

The company’s profit after tax (PAT) in Q2-2016 fell 17 per cent to Rs 36.42 crore (6.1 per cent margin) from Rs 43.89 crore (7.8 per cent margin) in the corresponding year ago quarter but was 46 per cent more than the Rs 24.95 crore (4.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

Advertising and Circulation revenue

HT Media’s advertising revenue grew by 6.7 per cent in Q2-2016 to Rs 475.2 crore (78.8 per cent of TIO) from Rs 444.4 crore (79.2 per cent of IO) in Q2-2015 and grew 1.4 per cent from Rs 467.5 crore (79.6 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

Circulation revenue in the current quarter at Rs 75.4 crore (12.5 per cent of TIO) grew 5.2 per cent as compared to Rs 71.7 crore (16.1 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and increased 3.3 per cent from Rs 72.9 crore (12.4 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

Segment-wise performance

Three segments contribute to HT Media’s numbers – (1) Printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals (Publishing) (2) Radio and (3) Digital.

HT Media’s publishing segment reported 5.4 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 538.08 crore (89.4 per cent of TIO) from Rs 510.75 crore (91.1 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter and grew 1.1 per cent from Rs 532.44 crore (90.7 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

The publishing segment reported operating profit of Rs 65.36 crore, which was 2.5 per cent lower than the Rs 67.04 crore in Q2-2015 and 17.6 per cent lower than the Rs 79.29 crore in Q1-2016.

HT Media has four FM radio stations – Fever 104 in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Radio segment revenue numbers have been mentioned above. HT Media’s radio segment reported operating profit of Rs 3.84 crore, which was 42.2 per cent lower than the Rs 6.64 crore in Q2-2015 and 42.5 per cent lower than the Rs 6.68 crore in Q1-2016.

The company’s digital segment reported 36 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 33.91 crore (11 per cent of TIO), which was 36 per cent more than the Rs 24.93 crore (4.4 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter and 11 per cent more than the Rs 30.56 crore (5.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016.

Digital segment reported higher loss of Rs 18.35 crore in Q2-2016 as compared to the Rs 14.70 crore in Q2-2015, but lower than the loss of Rs 23.88 crore in Q1-2016.

The company reported unallocated losses of Rs 15.40 crore in Q2-2016; loss of Rs 11.90 crore in Q2-2016 and loss of Rs 20.01 crore in Q1-2016.

Company Speak

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobana Bhartia said, “Our performance this quarter has been satisfactory despite subdued economic activity and tepid markets. Our English publications saw a growth in revenue even after factoring in a base effect, and this was driven by growth in both HT Mumbai and Mint. Hindustan continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience and saw high growth rates. We successfully acquired the stations of our choice in the Phase-III FM auctions. The digital business grew in terms of revenue and saw a fall in losses. We are excited by the opportunities on offer, the prospects of our various businesses and are confident of executing on our plans in the coming months.”

October 28, 2015
HT Media names Shamit Bhartia as managing director

MUMBAI: HT Media Limited has appointed Shamit Bhartia as managing director with effect from 26 September. Earlier Bhartia was designated as joint managing director of the company.

Bhartia replaces his mother Shobhana Bhartia, who is also the chairperson and editorial director of the group.

Members of the board had earlier approved the re-appointment of Bhartia as the whole time director of the company at the 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 27 August, 2013.

Bhartia has been associated with the company since incorporation and is actively involved in the business policy decisions, formulation of long-term vision and strategy and contributes immensely to the growth of the company.

He holds a degree in Economics from Dartmouth College, USA and has also worked in the corporate finance and M&A Group of Lazard Frere in New York.

September 26, 2015
ENIL wins 17 FM channels; HT Media bags Delhi for Rs 169 crore

NEW DELHI: Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL) appears to be the largest gainer in the first stage of the FM Radio Phase III e-auctions declared today with 17 channels in its kitty.

HT Media was the bidder for the sole channel in Delhi, which it picked up for a whopping sum of Rs 169.16 crore. HT Media also bagged one of the two channels in Mumbai. The other went to Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting Pvt Ltd, which an affiliate of Sun TV Network.

On the other hand, ENIL bagged the sole channel in Bengaluru along with two channels in Hyderabad, with one other channel in Hyderabad going to HT Media. ENIL also bagged the sole channel in Guwahati and one of the two in Jammu, the other going to Rajasthan Patrika.

Rajasthan Patrika successfully bid for 14 channels, while Reliance Broadcast Network has got 14 channels and DB Corp Ltd has got 14 channels. Meanwhile, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd has got 11 channels and HT Media has 10 channels.

The others, who have successful bid are Digital Radio (Delhi) Broadcasting, Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting, Abhijeet Realtors and Infraventures Pvt Ltd, Renderlive Films and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Sarthak Films Pvt Ltd, Abir Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co Pvt Ltd and Odisha Television Ltd.

Bhubaneswar – the city, which got the maximum number of bids, has been bagged by Sarthak Films Pvt Ltd.

The auction was stopped on the 33rd day after just one round, with 97 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1156.9 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore.

The results of 91 channels in 54 cities were declared today (16 September) by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. These results do not include the results of the bids by M/s Sun TV, South Asia FM and Kal Radio in compliance with the orders of the Madras High Court.

The I&B ministry said the Centre had decided to file a special leave to appeal in the Supreme Court against the order of 26 July of the Delhi High Court in the petitions by Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting Ltd. & Digital Radio (Delhi) Broadcasting Ltd. respectively.

September 16, 2015
Q1-2016: HT Media revenue up 7.5%; radio revenue up 2.3%, PAT down

BENGALURU: HT Media Limited (HT Media) reported 7.5 per cent growth in total income from operations (TIO) for the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 (Q1-2015) at Rs 587.18 crore as compared to the Rs 546.41 crore in Q1-2014 and 1.8 per cent higher than the Rs 576.92 crore in Q4-2015.

Its radio segment also reported a 2.3 per cent increase in revenue to Rs 24.52 crore (4.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 23.97 crore (4.4 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter, but five per cent less than the Rs 25.82 crore (4.5 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

(2) The figures mentioned in this report are consolidated figures unless stated otherwise.

The company’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) in Q1-2016 fell 23.6 per cent to Rs 24.95 crore (4.2 percent of TIO) from Rs 32.67 crore (6 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014 and fell 36.5 per cent from Rs 39.28 crore in Q4-2015.

Advertising and Circulation revenue

HT Media’s advertising revenue grew by five per cent in Q1-2016 to Rs 467.5 crore (79.6 per cent of TIO) from Rs 445.4 crore (81.5 per cent of TIO); Circulation revenues grew by 6.3 per cent in Q1-2016 to Rs 72.9 crore (12.4 per cent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 68.6 crore (12.6 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014.

Let us see how the segments performed

Three segments contribute to HT Media’s numbers – (1) Printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals (Publishing) (2) Radio and (3) Digital.

HT Media’s publishing segment reported 6.2 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 532.44 crore (90.7 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016 from Rs 501.54 crore (91.8 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and was 1.8 per cent more than the Rs 522.85 crore (90.6 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2015.

The publishing segment reported operating profit of Rs 79.29 crore in Q1-2016, 22.8 per cent more than the Rs 64.55 crore in Q1-2015 and 11.6 per cent more than the Rs 70.12 crore in Q4-2015.

HT Media has four FM radio stations – Fever 104 in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

Radio segment revenue numbers have been mentioned above. HT Media’s radio segment reported operating profit of Rs 6.68 crore in Q1-2016 was 46.2 per cent higher than the Rs 4.57 crore in Q1-2015 but 22 per cent lower than the Rs 8.56 crore in Q4-2015.

The company’s digital segment reported 28.8 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 30.56 crore (5.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2016 as compared to the Rs 23.72 crore (4.3 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 and 6.9 per cent more than the Rs 28.60 crore (five per cent of TIO) in Q4-2015. Digital segment reported higher loss of Rs 23.88 crore in Q1-2016; loss of Rs 12.19 crore in Q1-2015; loss of Rs 14.02 crore in Q4-2015.

The company reported unallocated losses of Rs 20.01 crore in Q1-2016; loss of 22.28 crore in Q1-2015 and loss of Rs 39.49 crore in Q4-2015.

Company Speak

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobana Bhartia said, “The year started well for us although economic growth is still slow and there are mixed signals on account of global macroeconomic concerns. Our English dailies saw volume-led growth across markets. Hindustan maintained its upward growth trajectory, driven by our investments in both UP and Bihar. Our digital assets are increasingly gaining a foothold in their markets. The Radio business continues to be profitable and we aim to add to our portfolio of stations in Phase- III auctions. As the year progresses, we believe that we will continue on the growth path and deliver positive results even as the economic environment improves.”

Click here for financial results

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July 15, 2015
FY-2015: Radio industry numbers the best as yet?

Has the Indian radio industry put in its best performance as yet? Preliminary conclusions based on the results filed by a few of the listed and segments of listed companies seem to indicate so, as do extrapolations of data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that is as yet available until Q3-2015.

Note (1): (a)100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

(b) The author has taken the liberty to introduce two new measures – average revenue per radio station and average operating profit per station. These are rough yardsticks and may not necessarily be indicative of a station or a network’s performance, because factors such as geography and market conditions within the area of operations are among many other factors that will also determine performance.

CAGR since FY-2012 is likely to be between 11 and 12%: TRAI data

As per data from TRAI, radio advertisement revenue has been increasing every quarter. Please refer to Fig A below, which shows ad revenue for a 15 quarter period starting Q1-2012 (quarter ended 30 June, 2012) until Q3-2015 (quarter ended 31 December, 2014). Ad revenue of Rs 450.95 crore for Q4-2015 has been calculated using the average percentage increase between Q3 and Q4 over three years (FY-2012, FY-2013 and FY-2014) – this works out to 1.76 per cent.

Ad revenue of Rs 487.34 crore for Q4-2015 (quarter ended 31 March, 2015) is the projected revenue by the linear trend line in Fig A-1, which is based on the revenue of the first three quarters of FY-2015. This shows a growth of 19.75 per cent over FY-2014. This figure is quite close to the average (simple) revenue growth of 19.93 per cent by the six sample companies whose figures have been considered later in this report. (At the time of filing this report, TRAI had not released data for Q4-2015. It must also be pointed out that TRAI has been releasing ad revenue data for lesser than the licensed number of radio stations, as indicated in the second line of the X axis in Fig A below.)

The trend line in Fig A indicates that ad revenue is increasing linearly. The figure also indicates that the radio industry has had its lowest quarter in terms of ad revenue in Q1, progressively increasing in Q2 and Q3, with the highest ad revenue in Q4 in FY-2012 and FY-2013. There could be various reasons for this and some that come to mind are that Q4 is the fag end of the financial year and advertisers use this very local medium to push through sales and attain year end targets for better margins. It could also mean that some advertisers already consumed a major portion of their ad budgets and are using the low cost alternative for grabbing consumer attention. However, in FY-2014, Q4-2014 ad revenue was lower than Q3-2014 by 1.02 per cent. Assuming the same trend is followed this year too, the projected ad revenue for Q4-2015 works out to about Rs 438.63 crore.

Based on the lower projected figure of Rs 438.63 crore, projected ad revenue for FY-2015 works out to Rs 1636.03 crore, and hence 16.29 per cent more than the Rs 1406.82 crore in FY-2014. Ad revenue in FY-2014 had grown 17.36 per cent from Rs 1198.77 crore in FY-2013. Since 2012, the industry’s ad revenue has shown a CAGR of 11 per cent if one were to consider the lower projected ad revenue of Rs 438.63 for Q4-2015.

If we consider Q4-2015 ad revenue as Rs 450.95 crore indicated in Fig A above, revenue for FY-2015 is Rs 1648.35 crore and CAGR works out to 11.21 per cent between FY-2012 and projected FY-2015 ad revenue.

If we consider the projected ad revenue for Q4-2015 as Rs 487.34 crore, then projected revenue for FY-2015 is Rs 1684.74 crore and CAGR between FY-2013 and FY-2015 (proj), works out to 11.82 per cent.

As mentioned above, based on TRAI quarterly ad revenue data, total ad revenue works out to Rs 1406.82 crore for FY-2014 and the average ad revenue per station as Rs 5.92 crore for 237.5 stations. Please note that TRAI data for Q1-2014 and Q2-2014 was for 237 stations and for Q3-2014 and Q4-2015 for 238 stations and hence a not very accurate median of 237.5 stations has been used to calculate the average ad revenue per station for FY-2014 above.

Based on the projected ad revenues for FY-2015 of Rs 1636.03 crore, Rs 1648.35 crore, 1684.74 crore for 241 stations, the corresponding projected average ad revenues per station works out to Rs 6.79 crore, Rs 6.84 crore and Rs 6.99 crore respectively.

Let us look at how a few radio groups performed:

Note (2): (a) This report considers PAT posted by two radio companies (ENIL – Radio Mirchi, 32 radio stations; Jagran Prakashan – Radio City – 20 radio stations) and their operating results, along with operating results of DB Corp (My FM, 17 stations), B. A. G Films (Radio Dhamaal, 10 stations) and HT Media (Fever FM, 4 stations).

(b) EBIDTA numbers for ENIL (Mirchi) have been calculated by adding the depreciation to the total income from operations and subtracting the total expense from the result, assuming that ENIL reports interest in finance charges separately.

The numbers in the charts below cover just 89 FM broadcasting stations of six sample companies of the total of 241 or 36.93 per cent.

It is interesting to note that Radio Mirchi with just 32 stations (13.5 per cent of total number of stations of 237 in FY-2014 as per TRAI) contributed revenue of Rs 384.49 crore to a total ad revenue of Rs 1406.82 crore in FY-2015, or 24.77 per cent of total ad revenues of the industry, that is assuming that all of Radio Mirchi’s total income from operations is ad revenue.

Another great performer, Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL, now a part of the Jagran Prakashan group), Radio City with 20 stations (or 8.44 per cent of the total number of stations in FY-2014 of 237 as per TRAI) reported revenue of Rs 160.53 crore or 11.41 per cent of the ad revenue for FY-2014 as per TRAI data, again assuming that all of Radio City’s total income from operations is ad revenue.

Of course, some of these companies/segments also have revenue streams other than radio advertisement, for example, Radio Mirchi conducts the Mirchi Music Awards every year and must also be reporting sponsorship revenue, but considering that many, and especially Radio Mirchi, My FM, Radio City and Fever FM are parts of some of the biggest professionally-run media houses in the country, these entities will be able to leverage a reasonable amount of money from other streams. A few of the entities also have internet radio stations that have turned quite popular, more so among the Indian diaspora.

Y-o-y, Q2-2015 was the best quarter in terms of revenue for five (except Radio City, whose numbers for Q1-2015 and Q2-2015 were not available at the time of writing of this report) of the six entities. Combined Q2-2015 revenue for the five entities was Rs 157.12 crore, 20.05 per cent more than the Rs 130.88 crore in Q2-2014. If one were to neglect the loss reported by Oye FM and Radio Dhamaal during the quarter, then the operating profit/PAT for My FM, Radio Mirchi (PAT) and Fever increased by 80.56 per cent as compared to the previous year.

Income of the six entities

Combined Operating Income of the six sample companies in this report grew 17.34 per cent in FY-2015 to Rs 886.05 crore from Rs 738.05 crore (52.46 per cent of the total ad revenue as per TRAI for FY-2014). As mentioned above, the simple average growth in revenue for the six companies was 19.93 per cent. Please refer to Fig B below.

The highest growth was by BAG Films Radio Dhamaal with a revenue growth of 47.09 per cent in FY-2015 to Rs 7.48 crore (0.86 per cent of Operating Income of the six sample entities in this report in FY-2015) from Rs 5.09 crore (0.69 per cent of Operating Income of the six sample entities in this report in FY-2014). Oye FM grew the least – its operating income increased 0.64 per cent to Rs 15.48 crore (1.79 per cent of Operating Income of the six sample entities in this report in FY-2015) from Rs 15.38 crore (2.08 per cent of Operating Income of the six sample entities in this report in FY-2014). My FM, Radio Mirchi and Radio City showed double digit growth in operating income in FY-2015 of 20.68 per cent, 14.04 per cent and 30.42 per cent respectively, while Fever FM’s operating revenue grew 6.72 per cent in FY-2015 as compared to FY-2014.

Operating Results -PAT and Margins of the six entities

Combined Operating result – of the six entities – operating profit grew 33.07 per cent to Rs 260.43 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 195.71 crore in the previous year. Four of the six sample entities reported growth in operating profit in FY-2015 as compared to FY-2014, while the other two reported lower operating loss in the current year (FY-2015) as compared to the previous year.

Please refer to Fig C and Fig C1 below. Radio Mirchi’s operating profit in FY-2015 of Rs 145.34 crore (55.81 per cent of combined operating profit of six entities in FY-2015) was 16.59 per cent more than the Rs 124.66 crore (63.7 per cent of combined operating profit of six entities in F-2014). Its operating margin in FY-2015 improved marginally to 33.15 per cent from 32.42 per cent in the previous year. Radio Mirchi’s operating margin was the highest for both the years among the six entities considered in this report.

Radio City’s operating profit in FY-2015 increased 52.3 per cent to Rs 64.86 crore (24.9 per cent of combined operating profit of six entities in F-2015) from Rs 42.60 crore (21.77 per cent of combined operating profit of six entities in FY-2014 FY-2014). Its operating margin improved to 30.98 per cent in FY-2015 as compared to the 26.54 per cent in the previous year.

My FM reported a 51.89 per cent growth in operating profit to Rs 31.23 crore (11.99 per cent of operating profit-reported by the six sample entities in this report in FY-2015) from Rs 20.56 crore (10.51 per cent of operating profit-PAT reported by the six sample entities in this report in FY-2014). Its operating margin increased to 32.57 per cent from 25.88 per cent in FY-2014.

Fever FM’s operating profit grew 37.07 per cent to Rs 29.21 crore (11.22 per cent of operating profit-PAT reported by the six sample entities in this report in FY-2015) from Rs 21.31 crore (10.89 per cent of operating profit-PAT reported by the six sample entities in this report in FY-2014). Its margin increased to 29.39 per cent from 22.88 per cent.

It may be noted that ENIL (Radio Mirchi) reported profit after tax of Rs 105.97 crore (24.2 per cent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) in FY-2015, which was 26.99 per cent more than the Rs 83.45 crore (23.32 per cent of TIO) in the previous year. Further, Radio City also reported a doubling of PAT in FY-2015 to Rs 42.95 crore (20.51 per cent of TIO) from Rs 21.45 crore (13.36 per cent of TIO) in FY-2014.

Results per station

As mentioned above, these measures are rough yardsticks and may not necessarily portray a true picture of a station or a network’s performance.

The average revenue per station for all the 89 radio stations of the six entities in this report grew to Rs 9.73 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 8.29 crore in the previous year. The average operating result per station based on EBIDTA for all the companies increased to Rs 2.93 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 2.20 crore in the previous year.

Please refer to Table A below for details of the six entities. Fever FM reported the highest revenue per station in both FY-2015 and FY-2014 at Rs 24.84 crore and Rs 23.28 crore respectively. The next highest revenue per station was Radio Mirchi with 32 stations and revenue of Rs 13.70 crore and Rs 12.02 crore in FY-2015 and FY-2014 respectively.

Radio City’s average revenue per station improved to Rs 10.47 crore in FY-2015 from Rs 8.03 crore in the previous year, when it was lower than the average revenue per station of the six entities in this report.

Fever FM also reported the highest operating profit per station at Rs 7.30 crore in FY-2015 as compared to the Rs 5.33 crore per station in FY-2014. The next highest on this parameter was Radio Mirchi. On considering its standalone EBIDTA for FY-2015 at Rs 145.34 crore based on the numbers reported by the company on the bourses, Radio Mirchi’s average operating profit per radio station works out to Rs 4.54 crore. For FY-2014, Radio Mirchi EBIDTA was Rs 124.66 crore and its average operating profit per station was Rs 3.90 crore. Radio City’s average operating profit per station works out to Rs 3.24 crore in FY-2015 as compared to the Rs 2.13 crore in FY-2014.

Conclusion

As per the FICCI-KPMG Media and Entertainment 2015 report (FICCI M&E 2015 report), the radio industry saw a phenomenal growth of 17.6 per cent in 2014. The report pegs the radio industry size for 2014 in India at Rs 1720 crore (Rs 7.24 crore average revenue per station on a base of 237.5 stations). With the implementation of phase III, FM radio will reach 85 per cent of India’s territory, further adding the medium as an important part of advertisers’ plans because radio is likely to be a cheaper alternative due of its reach. More stations are also likely to result into stronger regional networks.

Although, phase III auctions have been curtailed to just 135 stations in 69 cities and further delayed to the latter half of fiscal 2015, the industry feels that phase III could herald a new era for radio in India.

The FICCI M&E 2015 report says that growth in 2014 could be attributed to several reasons that include new upcoming sectors like e-commerce and industries such as real estate, retail and lifestyle products. As per the report many of the players reached 100 per cent inventory utilisation and hence hiked ad rates. There seems to a welcome change for the industry, which saw advertisers shift focus from nationwide brand building to more local focused promotional targeting, feeding on the strength of radio as a medium. Content innovation also contributed to the strong performance by many players. The general elections of 2014 also saw election spends finding its way to the radio industry with spends of around 12 to 15 per cent of ad budgets as opposed to the normal one to three per cent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on All India Radio through his show ‘Mann ki Baat’ has gained a lot of attention for the medium.

Challenges continue to hound the industry with smaller and standalone stations feeling the pressure of rising cost structures, measurement and royalty fee issues and the rising threat of the digital media eating into the radio ad budget pie. The good news is that now advertisers see radio as an integral part of their media plans, not just an add-on expense head.

So while FY-2015 is the best year yet for the radio industry so far, but the future is far brighter for the industry and its ecosystem, delays in phase III could dim the brightness, though.

July 14, 2015
IndiaMART ropes in Prateek Chandra as CFO

MUMBAI: IndiaMART has appointed Prateek Chandra as its chief finance officer. In his new role, Chandra will be responsible for managing the company’s financial growth, driving key business initiatives and playing an integral role in ensuring the organisation’s success.

IndiaMART founder & CEO Dinesh Agarwal said, “Prateek brings with himself an in-depth technology and media industry experience, along with immense knowledge of capital markets and financial and strategic planning. We are confident that he would be an outstanding addition to our leadership team and would help us implement our near-term operational goals, as we plan to scale up our marketplace to newer highs. It is my privilege to welcome him to the team and I wish him all the best in his role.”

Chandra added, “I am pleased to be a part of the country’s leading online marketplace which has been growing significantly over the past, and also has an ambitious vision for future growth. IndiaMART is at a juncture of momentous growth and being a part of this inspiring journey will be elating.”

Formerly, Chandra was HT Media CFO, radio business (104 FM), heading responsibility of finance and related operational aspects of the business. He holds over 14 years of experience in building business strategy, financial planning, M&A’s and managing investor relations in Indian and International markets.

July 9, 2015
FY-2015: HT Media radio segment reports 37% operating profit growth

BENGALURU: HT Media’s radio segment reported 37.1 per cent growth in operating profit at Rs 29.21 crore in FY-2015 as compared to the Rs 21.31 crore in FY-2014.The segment reported 78.8 per cent growth in operating result in Q4-2015 (quarter ended 31 March, 2015, current quarter) at Rs 8.56 crore as compared to the Rs 4.81 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Q4-2014) but was 9.3 per cent lower than the Rs 9.44 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q3-2015.

Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

(2) The figures mentioned in this report are consolidated figures unless stated otherwise.

HT Media has four FM radio stations – Fever 104 in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. HT Media’s radio segment’s revenue in FY-2015 at Rs 99.38 crore was 6.8 per cent more than the Rs 93.12 crore in FY-2014. The company says that growth was driven by advertising revenues growth of approximately 12 per cent being partially off-set by reduced focus on events and activations.

In Q4-2014, the segment reported 12.8 per cent growth in operating revenue to Rs 25.82 crore as compared to the Rs 22.88 crore in Q4-2014 and was almost flat (up 0.04 per cent) as compared to the Rs 25.81 crore in Q3-2015.

The company reported four per cent growth in Total Income from Operations (TIO) FY-2014 at Rs 2289.71 crore as compared to the Rs 2200.70 crore in FY-2014. TIO in Q4-2015 at Rs 576.92 crore was 6.1 per cent more than the Rs 543.84 crore in Q4-2015 but was 4.7 per cent lower than the Rs 605.50 crore in the previous quarter.

The company reported 13.4 per cent decline in profit after tax (PAT) in FY -2015 at Rs 179.81 crore as compared to the Rs 207.53 crore in FY-2014. PAT in Q4-2015 at Rs 39.28 crore was 12.7 per cent higher than the Rs 34.84 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, but declined 38.6 per cent as compared to the Rs 63.97 crore in Q3-2015.

Advertising, circulation and other revenues

Advertising revenue in FY-2015 at Rs 1851.7 crore improved 5.3 per cent from the Rs 1758.3 crore in FY-2014. Ad revenue in Q4-2015 grew 5.7 per cent to Rs 465.3 crore from Rs 440.1 crore in the year ago quarter, but declined 6.3 per cent from the Rs 496.1 crore in the trailing quarter.

Circulation revenue in FY-2015 improved 10.8 per cent to Rs 284.8 crore from Rs 257 crore in FY-2014. In Q4-2015, circulation revenue improved 8.6 per cent to Rs 71.1 crore from Rs 65.5 crore in Q4-2014, but declined 3.1 per cent from Rs 73.4 crore in Q3-2015.

Other revenues in the current year declined 7.8 per cent to Rs 320.7 crore from Rs 347.7 crore in FY-2014. Other revenues improved 12.5 per cent in the current quarter to Rs 90.3 crore in Q4-2015 from Rs 80.3 crore in Q4-2014 and improved 13.2 per cent from Rs 79.8 crore in Q3-2014

Segment Revenue

Three segments contribute to HT Media’s numbers – (1) Printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals (Publishing) (2) Radio and (3) Digital.

Radio segment’s results have been mentioned above.

Printing & Publishing of Newspapers & Periodicals (Printing)

The segment reported 2.9 per cent growth in revenue FY-2015 at Rs 2088.34 crore in FY-2015 as compared to the Rs 2029.61 crore in FY-2014. Revenue in Q4-2015 at Rs 522.85 crore was 5.5 per cent more than the Rs 495.65 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter, but declined 5.5 per cent as compared to the Rs 553.20 crore in Q3-2015.

Printing segment reported 9.4 per cent decline in operating profit to Rs 280.20 crore in Fy-2015 from Rs 309.41 crore in FY-2014. The segment’s operating profit in Q4-2015 declined 10.1 per cent to Rs 70.12 crore from Rs 78.04 crore in Q4-2014 and declined 10.7 per cent from Rs 78.49 crore in Q3-2015.

Digital segment

HT Media’s digital segment reported 36.3 per cent growth in FY-2015 to Rs 103.90 crore from Rs 76.22 crore in FY-2014.The segment reported 31.1 per cent growth in operating revenue to Rs 28.60 crore from Rs 21,82 crore in Q4-2014 and was 7.3 per cent more than the Rs 26.65 crore in Q3-2015. The segment has been reporting operating loss on a regular basis.

Company speak

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobana Bhartia said, “We ended the year on a high note on the back of a growth in ad revenue and higher circulation in Mumbai and the Hindi belt. Hindustan Times’ Mumbai edition and Hindustan’s Uttar Pradesh editions, strengthened their presence in their respective geographies, and were both profitable. Our digital businesses grew handsomely and are at an inflection point. Radio continues to do well and we will invest in its growth. With a strong base, our continuing focus on digital initiatives and stronger tailwinds in the economy, we are confident of delivering value to our shareholders in the year ahead.”

The Board of Directors at its meeting on 15 May, 2015 recommended a dividend of Rs0.40 perequity share of Rs2 each; translating to 20 per cent of face value. Dividend for the year amounted to Rs 9.31 crore (excluding Dividend Distribution Tax).

Click here to read the full financial report

Click here for the Earnings Presentation

May 15, 2015
Q3-2015: HT Media Radio segment reports 42.2% higher operating result

BENGALURU: HT Media Limited’s (HT Media) radio segment reported a 42.2 per cent q-o-q growth in operating result for Q3-2015 at Rs 9.44 crore versus the Q2-2015 operating profit of Rs 6.64 crore and was 21.2 per cent more than the Rs 7.79 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2014. The segment’s 9M-2015 operating result at Rs 20.65 crore was 27.9 per cent more than the Rs 16.15 crore in 9M-2014.

Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

(2) The figures mentioned in this report are consolidated figures unless stated otherwise.

HT Media’s radio segment reported revenue of Rs 25.81 crore, six per cent more than the Rs 24.35 crore in Q2-2014 but 3.2 per cent lower than the Rs 26.67 crore in Q3-2014. The company operates four radio stations in the country under the brand Fever 104 FM.

Let us look at the other Q3-2015 and 9M-2015 figures reported by HT Media:

HT Media reported eight per cent higher total income from operations (TIO) at Rs 605.50 crore as compared to the Rs 560.88 crore in Q2-2015 and 4.2 per cent more than the Rs 533.53 crore in Q3-2014. For 9M-2015, HT Media reported TIO of Rs 1712.79 crore, which was 3.4 per cent more than the Rs 1656.86 crore in 9M-2014.

The company’s PAT for Q3-2015 at Rs 63.97 crore (10.6 per cent of TIO) was 45.8 per cent more than the Q2-2015 PAT of Rs 43.89 crore (7.8 per cent of TIO) but 4.6 per cent lower than the Rs 67.02 crore (11.5 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014. For 9M-2015, HT Media reported PAT of Rs 140.53 crore (8.2 per cent of TIO), which was 18.6 per cent lower than the Rs 172.69 crore (10.4 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

Three segments contribute to HT Media’s revenue – (1) Printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals (Publishing), (2) Radio and (3) Digital.

HT Media’s publishing segment reported revenue of Rs 553.2 crore (91.4 per cent of TIO) for the current quarter, which was eight per cent more than the Rs 510.75 crore (91.1 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015, and 3.7 per cent more than the Rs 533.53 crore (91.8 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014. In 9M-2015, the publishing segment reported revenue of Rs 1565.49 crore (91.4 per cent of TIO), which was 2.1 per cent more than the Rs 1533.96 crore (92.6 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

HT Media’s publishing segment reported an increase in operating profit of 17.1 per cent to Rs 78.49 crore in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 67.04 in Q2-2015, but was 8.7 per cent lower than the Rs 85.93 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. The segment reported a 7.4 per cent fall in operating profit to Rs 210.08 crore in 9M-2015 versus Rs 226.97 crore in 9M-2014.

The company’s digital segment reported 6.9 per cent higher revenue at Rs 26.65 crore in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 24.93 crore in Q2-2015 and 36.4 per cent more than the Rs 19.54 crore in Q3-2014. For 9M-2015, HT Media’s digital segment reported a 38.4 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 74.13 crore versus the Rs 54.40 crore in 9M-2014. This segment has been regularly reporting operating loss (loss). Its loss in Q3-2015 was Rs 14.42 crore; Q2-2015 was Rs 14.7 crore; for Q3-2014 loss was Rs 7.6 crore. For 9M-2015, HT Media’s digital segment reported loss of Rs 41.31 crore versus Rs 34.73 crore in 9M-2014.

The company, in its investor presentation, says that advertising revenue in the current quarter grew 12 per cent to Rs 496.7 crore from Rs 444.4 crore in the immediate trailing quarter and grew four per cent as compared to the Rs 478.3 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.

Circulation revenues in Q3-2015 at Rs 73.4 crore grew two per cent q-o-q from Rs 71.7 crore in Q2-2015 and grew 10 per cent from Rs 66.5 crore in Q3-2014.

Other revenue increased one per cent in Q3-2015 to Rs 79.8 crore from Rs 78.7 crore in Q2-2015 and was 10 per cent more than the Rs 72.3 crore in Q3-2014 further informs HT Media.

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia said, “We are happy to report revenue growth across all our core businesses on the back of higher advertising in the festive season. We increased our circulation in the Hindi belt, strengthening our position in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; Mumbai is growing steadily; and we remain the most read English daily in Delhi and the national capital region. Our digital businesses continue to show traction and radio remains highly profitable.”

“Raw material costs show a downward trend and we will benefit from the same in coming quarters. The announcement of Phase III expansion in FM Radio is a positive development and we believe we will be able to add to our portfolio of stations. We expect to close the year on a strong note and carry the momentum into the next year. The company is well positioned to seize any opportunity that comes its way,” she added.

February 16, 2015