Dainik Bhaskar regains 90% of pre-Covid circulation numbers
DB Corp (DBCL), India’s largest print media company and home to flagship newspapers, Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar, has announced its financial results for the quarter ended 31 March 2021. In the performance highlight for Q 4 FY2021 Consolidated (compared to Q4 FY2020), PAT grew by 158 % yoy at Rs 619-million as against Rs 241 million and EBIDTA grew by 52 % yoy at Rs 1,047-million (23 % margin) as against Rs 690-million (margin of 14%).
23 Jun 2021 | 1986 Views | By Dibyajyoti Sarma
The advertising revenue stood at Rs 3,084-million as against Rs 3,303-million and the circulation revenue stood at Rs 1,104-million as against Rs 1,200-million. The total revenue came in at Rs 4,601-million as against Rs 4,898-million.
During the period, despite the strong pandemic-led headwinds, the Dainik Bhaskar group’s carefully calibrated editorial, circulation and ad revenue strategies have continued to help it outperform the industry performance in both circulation as well as ad revenue fronts. The continued efforts of the circulation teams have yielded strong results with the group managing to salvage a challenging year. The circulation registered almost 300-bps growth on a qoq basis in Q4FY21, enabling the group to reach more than 90% of pre-Covid circulation numbers. The on-ground calibrations done by local teams have helped Dainik Bhaskar achieve almost 95% of pre-Covid levels in select cities and towns. The recoveries have been significant in the key states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat.
On the advertising front, the Dainik Bhaskar Group philosophy of converting adversities into opportunities continues, with the Group being at forefront of innovation in print industry and crossing several milestones. During the year, the Group published over 20 ‘mega editions’ across its major markets, despite challenging fiscal, with overwhelming response from advertisers, thereby re-affirming it strategy of operating in the tier-II, tier-III cities and beyond. As a result of these efforts as well as cost rationalisation measures and soft newsprint prices, the EBITDA for the print business in Q4FY21 came in at Rs 1,122-million (with an EBIDTA margin of 26%) as against Rs 715-million (EBIDTA margin of 16%) million last year quarter and helped end the year FY 21 at Rs 3,582-million (with an EBIDTA margin of 25%) as against Rs 4,821-million (margin of 23%) in FY20.
The advertisers look for credibility and reach amongst key audiences and it is a well-known fact that print holds a commanding lead over all other forms of news delivery in both these parameters. The Covid-19 led lockdown accentuated this position further which has been also confirmed by the Ormax News Credibility Index 2020 in September, the Kantar Trust in News Study in November 2020 and the ASCI Trust Study in December 2020.