DB Corp, the publisher of newspaper dailies Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Saurashtra Samachar and Divya Marathi, has posted a loss before tax of Rs 2.66 crore in the Internet segment for the quarter ended December 30, 2014. Losses widened from Rs 0.483 crore loss in the same quarter last year but up from Rs 1.208 crore loss in the previous quarter.
The total Internet revenues was at Rs 9.18 crore for the quarter, up 74.86% from Rs 5.25 crore in the same quarter last year and up 46.65% from Rs 6.26 crore revenues in the previous quarter.
The Internet segment however accounts for just 1.65% of DB Corp’s operational income which was at Rs 554.57 crore for the quarter. The company’s print business still dominates its operational revenues, accounting for 93.56% DB Corp’s operational income for the quarter.
Digital business highlights
-The company launched a new concept app during the quarter. Through the master app, user can consume content across all of DB Corp’s sites in three languages (Hindi, English and Gujarati).
-During the quarter, the company’s digital business registered atotal of 540 million page views and 18.2 million unique visitors. The company’s flagship website, dainikbhaskar.com registered 13.4 million unique visitors and 361 million page views. The recently launched Moneybhaskar.comachieved a 41% increase in unique visitors and 19% growth in page views.
Other highlights
– Total revenues up 6.1% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 557.4 crore from Rs 525.6 crore in Q3-FY14.
– Profit After Tax (PAT) increased 11.3% YoY to Rs 105.1 crore from Rs 94.5 crore in Q3-FY14. This includes an incremental depreciation of Rs 6.57 crore and forex loss of Rs 1.96 crore. PAT margin was at 18.9%
– EBITDA: 15.4% increase YoY to Rs 187.6 crore from Rs 162.5 crore in Q3-FY14. EBITDA margin is at 33.6%.
– Advertising revenues: up 6.2% YoY to Rs 428.3 crore from Rs 403.5 crore in Q3-FY14.
– Print: Advertising revenue grew by around % YoY to Rs 518.9 crore from Rs 488.63 crore in Q3-FY14. PAT was at Rs 100.7 crore and PAT margin was at 19.3%. EBITDA was at Rs 178.3 crore that includes a forex loss of Rs 0.05 crore while EBITDA margin was at 34.1%. Circulation revenues grew by 16.8% YoY to Rs 96.9 crore from Rs 83 crore Q3 last year.
– Radio Business: Ad revenues increased by 7.8% YoY to Rs 25.7 crore from Rs 23.9 crore in Q3-FY14. PAT was at Rs 6.23 crore and EBITDA was at Rs 11.5 crore.
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