NDTV's Q3 profits more than halves with drop in advertising demand

New Delhi Television, part of the Adani Group, reported on Tuesday that the third quarter's profit had more than halved due to sluggish advertising demand.

The results come at a time when businesses around the world are cutting back on expenses like advertising to combat the economic downturn brought on by persistent inflation and increased interest rates.

The broadcaster's combined net profit dropped from 276.4 million Indian rupees in the year-ago third quarter to 129.1 million rupees ($1.56 million) on December 31.

According to a press statement from NDTV, the decrease was mainly caused by less people watching advertisements across all news genres.

Since U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research expressed worries about the conglomerate's debt levels and use of tax havens on January 24, claims that the group has refuted, shares of NDTV and other listed Adani-owned companies have taken a beating.

Since then, shares of NDTV have dropped by 23.6%, while those of the group's flagship company, Adani Enterprises Ltd., have dropped by 47.7%.

Following a lengthy struggle in the second part of last year, Adani now owns a 64.71% ownership in NDTV, a development that is widely regarded as signalling the demise of one of India's very few editorially independent media outlets.

Its outcomes were comparable to those of the TV18 Broadcast Ltd. and TV Today Network Ltd., owned by Reliance Industries and home to the India Today and Aaj Tak news stations, respectively.