Mumbai: Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd, which runs the Hindi language publications of HT Media Ltd, reported a sharp increase in its Q1FY20 profit backed by substantial fall in its newsprint costs.
The company’s net profit jumped to Rs 39.67 Cr for the three months ended June 2019, up from just Rs 13.20 cr in the same period last year and Rs 16.49 in the immediate preceding quarter.
However, the company’s operating revenue continued to decline reaching Rs 217.94 Cr from Rs 226.56 Cr last year. On a sequential basis, operating revenue was up from Rs 212.97 Cr, partly because January-March tends to be a seasonally dull quarter for newspaper advertising revenue.
During this quarter the company witnessed sharp fall in the material costs, which is almost entirely composed of newsprint costs.Material related costs of HT Media fell by Rs 24 Cr to Rs 83 Cr from Rs 107 Cr a year ago and Rs 92 Cr in the preceding three months, accounting for most of the Rs 31 Cr increase seen in the company’s operating profit.
Operating profit increased to Rs 48.78 Cr from Rs 18.26 Cr a year ago and Rs 30.08 Cr in the preceding three months.
The company managed to keep employee costs under control at Rs 28.22 Cr versus Rs 28.19 Cr a year ago and Rs 27.05 Cr in the preceding quarter.‘Other expenses’ too were under control at Rs 72.66 Cr, down from Rs 84.66 Cr in the preceding quarter, and flat on a year-on-year basis.
