DB Corp reports 2.5-fold rise in net profit to Rs 78.75 cr in Q1FY24

Media company DB Corp Ltd on Thursday reported a more than two and a half times jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 78.75 crore in the first quarter ended 30 June 2023, driven by strong growth in advertising revenue.

DB Corp said in a regulatory filing that the company posted consolidated net profit of Rs. 31 crore in the same last financial period.

It added that the total consolidated income during the period under review amounted to Rs. 573.6 crore, compared to Rs. 499.38 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

Total expenses in the first quarter were Rs. 469.97 crore, compared to Rs. 457.3 crore in the same period last year.

The resurgence of print media continues to dominate all forms of media as the most trusted source of news, said the company, which publishes newspapers including Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar, and this resurgence has generated a boost as advertisers look for the best vehicle for their marketing spending.

“Print advertising continues to record strong revenue growth of 24 per cent year-on-year in the last five quarters from Rs.1,351 crore to Rs.1,675.5 crore,” the company said.

Advertising revenue in the first quarter grew by 17.2 per cent to Rs. 394.6 crore, compared to Rs. 336.8 crore in the same period last year.

Trading revenue grew by around 4% to Rs.119.9 crore, as against Rs.115.6 crore in the same period in the previous financial year.

Newsprint prices continued their downward trend in the first quarter of fiscal ’24, the company said, adding, “We hope this trend will continue based on our assessment.”

“As global economies are slowly recovering from their inflationary pressures, the Indian economy, especially the non-metro markets, continues to experience rapid growth. The printing sector has been on an upward trend over the past few months and this is likely to continue,” said Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Ltd.

He added that while English-language publications were struggling with slowing demand, regional newspapers appeared to be doing better.

“Along with ad revenue growth, we focused on cost optimization and over the last 4-6 months we also helped ease newsprint prices. This helped us achieve a fifth quarter of continued growth across all segments and we are confident this trend will continue in the coming quarters,” said Agarwal.