The Balance Sheet for Print Firms

As the Q3 earnings of Indian companies for fiscal year 2013 filter through, there are more positive surprises than disappointments in the results declared so far. About 46% of the companies have reported profit numbers which are better than street expectations versus 38% of the companies who have delivered profits lower than expectations.

In terms of revenues about 41% of companies have beaten market expectations and only 24% have missed earnings expectations. This is according to data compiled a leading global brokerage firm.

PrintWeek India looks at key companies of the Indian print industry and analyses the financial data from the top-line companies from packaging, publishing, newspapers and industry leader in the print sectors.   

ITC

ITC logged a stellar performance in the quarter ended December with 23% growth in net sales and 20.6% increase in net profit. Though the paper business’ revenue grew in single-digits by 8.5% and profits remained flat. A better-than-expected 21 % year-on-year rise in third quarter net profit at Rs 2,052-crore was helped by strong growth in FMCG and agri businesses.

ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, which is one of India’s largest and eco-friendly paper and paperboards business is one of the four segments of its parent company, ITC. The business caters to a wide spectrum of packaging, graphic, communication, writing, printing and specialty paper requirements through its four world-class manufacturing units, seven sales offices and a network of more than 50 dealers in India, along with an international trade network of 18 distributors / agents and four finishing operations.

TCPL Packaging

One of India's largest manufacturers of printed folding cartons TCPL Packaging is also one of the handful of listed packaging companies in India. TCPL is one of the largest exporters of printed cartons from India. Exports constitute approximately 17% of TCPL's annual revenues.  

After enhancing and consolidating its presence in the FMCG packaging sector during the fiscal year 2012, TCPL has gone from strength to strength, they reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 95.03-crore and a net profit of Rs 3.83-crore for the quarter ended December '12. TCPL Packaging has given 43.43% returns over the last six months and 81.12% over the last 12 months. The foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector will provide further impetus to an already prospering Indian packaging industry in general and packaging majors like TCPL in particular.

Rollatainers

Rollatainers is one of the largest integrated packaging firms in the country, with operations in Haryana and Karnataka. For the last three decades Rollatainers has been catering to a wide range of packaging requirement. Rollatainers has installed over 1,000 machines in India and abroad and is one of the largest producers of lined cartons in India.

Rollatainers has reported a sales turnover of Rs 12.93-crore and a net loss of Rs 0.70-crore for the quarter ended September 2012.

Rollatainers’ board of directors at its meeting held on January 10, 2013, has approved the issue of bonus shares to the shareholders in the proportion of 3:2, i.e. three bonus equity shares of Rs 10 each for every two existing shares of Rs 10 each held.

Navneet Publications

Navneet Publications is a dominant player in the field of publishing with more than 5,000 titles in English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu and other Indian and foreign languages. Educational, children and general book publication are the major pillars of the company.

Navneet Publications has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 125.02-crore and a net profit of Rs 11.24-crore for the quarter ended December '12. Navneet shares have given 12.12% returns over the last six months and 14.72% over the last 12 months.

With the education industry growing year-on-year Navneet seems to be poised for growth as on of the major players in the educational publishing sector.

Repro India

Repro India provides content, print and fulfilment solutions to a wide range of publishers, corporate, education institutions and governments. With clients in four continents and two state-of-an-art printing facilities at Mahape and Surat, Repro offers significant backward and forward integration which involves managing customer’s content, printing and delivering in different formats.

Repro India's Q3 net profit was up 32% at Rs 11-crore versus Rs 8.3-crore, year-on-year. Its total income was up 8.68% at Rs 96.4-crore versus Rs 88.7-crore.

DB Corp

DB Corp coverage is spread across 13 states with 65 editions and 199 district editions. To cater to its 1.96-crore readership base they have 67 printing machines spread across 48 print plants in 10 states. Dainik Bhaskar Group publishes Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi) and Divya Bhaskar (Gujarati). And now Divya Marathi. The group has installed 25 KBA Prisma towers.

Apart newspapers, Bhaskar Group owns channels, portals and cable TV.

DB Corp's consolidated net profit rose by 44.9 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 71-crore in the third quarter of financial year 2012-13. Consolidated total income increased 16 percent to Rs 439-crore from Rs 378-crore during the same period.

Jagran Prakashan

Jagran Prakashan’s Dainik Jagran is the largest newspaper in the country. Jagran has 30 printing facilities and publishes 37 editions across eleven states of India, plus 200 sub-editions, with differing Hindi dialects. Independent News and Media, the London-based publisher of The Independent have acquired a sizeable stake in Dainik Jagran.

Jagran Prakashan has announced its third quarter results. The company's Q3 net profit was down 5% at Rs 65.9-crore versus Rs 69.4-crore, quarter-on-quarter. Its Q3 net revenue was up 8% at Rs 349-crore versus Rs 322-crore. Its Q3 Ad revenue was up 7.07% at Rs 239.3-crore, year-on-year, while its Q3 circulation revenue was up 12.22% at Rs 69.89-crore and the company's Q3 Digital revenue was up 18% at Rs 2.88-crore.