HT Media, one of the leading media companies engaged in Print, Radio and Digital business has delivered a mixed results in a constrained market conditions with its Print Business pulling it down while the Radio and Digital are gearing up to shoulder the company with better revenue in the future.
The Financial results of HT Media Q3FY2017 shows that the total revenue was down by (0.7%) at INR 7,048 million from INR 7,095 million due to 5.7% decrease in advertising revenue to INR 5,114 from INR 5,421 million primarily due to de-growth in Print Ad revenues partially offset by growth in Radio Ad revenues. However, circulation revenue increased by 2.1% to INR 786 million from INR 769 million.
The EBITDA of HT Media was 10.5% higher than last year at INR 1,653 million from INR 1,496 million primarily due to Increase in other revenue coupled with 5.9% decrease in Raw material costs (on account of lower pagination) and 4.7% decrease in SG&A expenses.
PAT up by 24.8% at INR 1,064 million from INR 852 million primarily due to higher EBITDA and lower tax expense being partially off-set by higher amortization and interest costs for new radio stations.
Digital business performance:
- Job portal Shine.com and Digital Content registered healthy revenue growth of ~29% and ~21% respectively in Q3’FY17 vs. same period last year.
- HT Mobile Solutions witnessed a soft quarter registering a revenue de-growth of ~(39%) in Q3’FY17 vs. same period last year.
- Overall (3%) decrease in revenue from Digital segment to INR 371 million from INR 382 million in the same quarter last year.
Radio business doing well with launch of new stations:
- 4% increase in reported revenue to INR 449 million in Q3’FY17 from INR 323 million in same period last year driven by new radio station launches.
- Radio EBITDA at INR 132 million with margins at 29.3% vs. 27.2% during same period last year and vs. 18.8% in the previous quarter as new stations have started gaining traction.
Commenting on the results and performance, Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia, Chair person and Editorial Director, HT Media said: “Media spending is a forerunner of consumer, business, and investor sentiment. While the quarter started on a good note with the festival season, the subsequent short-term economic dip affected sentiment and media spends, which impacted advertising revenue for our English and Hindi print businesses. The Hindi print business was also weighed down by the Bihar election related advertising spends in last year’s base.
Radio continues to do well for us and we are seeing good traction for our Phase-III stations. We continue to hone our digital strategy and are aligning the organization to leverage our considerable strengths in traditional media, and our brands in the digital world.
We are also constantly challenging ourselves to innovate and do things efficiently with leaner cost structures. This should bear fruits in the coming quarters and further help us deliver on our promise to create value for the shareholders”.
HT Media has set its strategic short term focus on regaining revenue growth in Print business in post-demonetisation era, continue to drive revenue and profitability of newly launched Radio stations and improve Digital footprint by executing on our digital strategy and aim to grow revenue in this space.
Highlights of Q3FY2017 results:
- Total Revenue at INR 7,048 million.
- Advertising Revenue de-grew by (5.7%); Circulation Revenues grew by 2.1% vs. last year.
- EBITDA was up by 10.5% at INR 1,653 million; EBITDA margins at 23.5% vs. 21.0% last y
- PAT grew by 24.8% to INR 1,064 million; PAT margins of 15.1%.
- Strong balance sheet position with healthy cash flows.
- EPS for the quarter stood at INR 3.93 as compared to INR 2.95 in the same period last year.
