Jagran Prakashan's net profit up by 61.37% in Q2 FY16

Ad revenues up by 26.7%, operating revenues up by 19.1%, EBITDA up by 38.3% YoY

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | November 2, 2015

Jagran Prakashan Limited, publishers of Dainik Jagran, India's largest read newspaper, announced its consolidated financial results for the quarter and the half year ended September 30, 2015.

Jagran posted a net profit after tax and minority interest of Rs 91.26 crore for Q2 FY16, up by 61.37 per cent from Rs 56.55 crore in Q2 FY15.

The EBITDA for Q2 FY16 was pegged at Rs 146.89 crore, up by 38.3 per cent from Rs 106.24 crore in Q2 FY15.

For the half year ended September 30, 2015, Jagran posted a profit after tax of Rs 271.23 crore, up by 143 per cent from the corresponding period last fiscal where the figure stood at Rs 111.69 crore.

The EBITDA for H1 of 2015 Rs 281.70 crore, up by 32.1 per cent from Rs 213.28 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

The operating revenues for Q2 FY16 was Rs 519.51 crore, up by 19.1 per cent from Rs 436.27 crore in Q2 FY15.

The operating Revenues for the half year ended September 30, 2015 was Rs 1000.66 crore, up by 14.2 per cent from Rs 876.56 crore in the corresponding period in 2014.

Advertisement Revenues rose to Rs 388.96 crore in Q2 FY16, up by 26.7 per cent from Rs 306.93 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

For the half year ended September 30, 2015, the advertisement revenues were Rs 734.53 crore, up by 19.3 per cent from Rs 615.82 crore.

In Q2 FY16, the circulation revenues were Rs 99.83 crore, up by 3.5 per cent from Rs 96.49 crore in Q2 FY15.

In H1 of 2015, the circulation revenue was Rs 200.34 crore, up by 4.3 per cent from Rs 192.15 crore in corresponding period in 2014.

Operating revenue and operating profit from major businesses

Jagran's premiere publication 'Dainik Jagran' posted operating revenue of Rs 362.532 crore in Q2 FY16, as against Rs 336 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

The EBITDA growth was Rs 126.28 crore, up by 14.48 per cent from the Rs 110.30 in Q2 FY15.

The EBITDA margin was 34.8 per cent as against 32.8 per cent in Q2 FY15.

Jagran's other publications like Naidunia, Midday, I Next, City Plus, Punjabi Jagran, Josh & Sakhi, garnered an operating revenue of Rs 79.19 crore in Q2 FY16, as against the Rs 76.73 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

The EBITDA here (Q2 FY16) was Rs 6.98 crore as against the negative EBITDA of Rs 2.36 crore in Q2 FY15.

The outdoor and event business in Q2 FY16 fetched an operating income of Rs 20.37 crore in Q2 FY16, as against the Rs 22.09 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Financial result of Radio City as reported by Music Broadcast Limited 

Jagran Prakashan owns Music Broadcast that runs the radio station Radio City 91.1.

Radio City posted a net profit after tax of Rs 12.05 crore in Q2 FY16, down by 6.4 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal, where the figure stood at Rs 12.88 crore.

The half yearly profit in H1 of 2015 stood at Rs 9.82 crore, down by 49.38 per cent from Rs 19.4 crore for the the corresponding period in 2014.

During the quarter, the company had acquired 11 new FM stations under e-auctions of first batch of private FM Radio Phase III. With the addition of the new towns and addition of Radio Mantra towns, Radio City reaches to 39 most important towns of India dominating the most important states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh & Rajasthan.

Commenting on the results of the Jagran Prakashan, Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, JPL said, “It gives me immense pleasure to report that the Company has for the first time crossed the mark of Rs 500 crore in turnover in a quarter. Chasing unprofitable growth has never been our philosophy and this is where the team has done an incredible job by delivering still healthier growth in profits.

We are happy with acquisition of one of the two strongest FM radio networks of the country, Radio City which continues to perform on the expected lines. Phase-III auction has witnessed unrealistic bidding for metro as well as non-metro stations and I do not see the frequencies, taken at exorbitant prices, giving the return on investment. As far as we are concerned, we remained disciplined but could still manage to get what we had planned. We do not subscribe to the strategy of multiple frequencies as opposed to expansion to newer markets and therefore bidding for multiple frequencies was never part of our plan.

Besides publication and radio businesses, digital business too continues to record steep growth in revenues and occupy a prominent market position. With strong franchise across various media platforms, market position and operating performance duly backed by financial prudence, the Company is very well poised to next level of growth and enhancing the wealth of shareholders manifold.”

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