DB Corp witnesses 18% growth in ad revenue in FY24

DB Corp (DBCL), a 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 and financial year ended March 31, 2024.

In FY24, the advertising revenue grew by Rs 2697 million or 18.2% to reach Rs 17524 million; EBITDA expanded by 1100 bps or Rs 3422 million to reach Rs 7033 million (28% margin) and PAT increased by 152% over FY23 to reach Rs 4255 million.

On a quarterly basis, Q4 FY24 saw broad based growth for the eleventh quarter in a row with 24.6% growth in advertising revenue to Rs 4457 million; EBITDA margin expanded by 1500 bps to reach Rs 1967 million (31% margin) with 121.2% YOY growth and PAT saw 198.6% YOY growth to Rs 1225 million.

The radio business saw 32.5% growth in advertising revenue for the qtr 4 and 770 bps increase in EBITDA to Rs 144 million (EBIDTA margin 34%).

According to the publication, "Newsprint prices continued to be soft in Q4 FY2024 and based on our assessment, we expect newsprint purchase prices to remain stable in the next few quarters. Our average cost for newsprint has reduced from the high of Rs 63,500 PMT in Q2 FY2023 to around Rs 51,500 PMT in Q2 FY2024 and now to Rs 49300 PMT in Q4 FY2024 resulting in newsprint cost reduction of 14% YoY in FY 24."

It added, "Our App has registered a tremendous growth from 2 million in January 2020 to approx 14 million in March 2024. This has propelled Dainik Bhaskar to extend its leadership as the dominant digital leader with the #1 Hindi and Gujarati News Apps, with the competition either staying flat or declining its user base."

Commenting on the performance for Q4 FY2024, Sudhir Agarwal, managing director, DB Corp said, "Fiscal 2024 marks yet another year of continued growth for the Print Media sector in general and Dainik Bhaskar in particular. The momentum that has built over the past few quarters is a demonstration of the underlying strength of the medium. Apart from our Print business, our radio business continues this growth trajectory, digital business is also progressing as planned, and we are enthused by the immense potential of our omni-channel platform that is now firing on all cylinders."

"We are happy that we have built a strong platform of growth and are encouraged by the broad-based advertising revenues that we continue to attract. With India’s growth momentum going strong, we see a plethora of opportunities and going into the new financial year, we are hopeful to be able to continue this momentum and increase our leadership position and deliver growth to all stakeholders, he further added.