The Dainik Bhaskar Group is one of the youngest and fastest growing newspaper groups in the country with over 50 printing locations in seven states and a combined circulation of over 5 million copies. Ever since 1995, when the Hindi daily consolidated its position as the largest selling newspaper in Madhya Pradesh and moved into Rajasthan and other neighbouring states, it has expanded at a frantic pace. According to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures published for the period between July to December 2015, Dainik Bhaskar is the top newspaper daily in the country at the moment with a circulation of more than 3.8 million copies.
DB Corp publishes 40 editions of Dainik Bhaskar, seven editions of Divya Bhaskar and seven editions of Divya Marathi and has a presence in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu. The company’s other business interests also span the radio segment through the brand ‘My FM’, with a presence in 17 cities in seven states and internet portals. The newspaper is printing close to 5.4 million copies every day at the moment, according to Dinesh Sharma, associate vice president, production (corporate), Dainik Bhaskar.
DB Corp has reported a 61.66% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 103.95 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2016. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 64.30 crore in April-June period of the previous fiscal, DB Corp said in a BSE filing. Net sales on consolidated basis were up 20.27% at Rs 561.01 crore as against Rs 466.45 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Revenue from newspapers and periodicals was up 19.64% at Rs 526.65 crore in the first quarter compared with Rs 440.19 crore in the same period a year ago. Radio segment revenue rose 30.57% during the quarter to Rs 28.06 crore compared with Rs 21.49 crore last fiscal. The company’s advertising revenue was up by 20.82% at Rs 413.6 crore during the quarter compared with Rs 342.3 crore in the same period of the last fiscal, the company said.
In a statement to the media, DB Corp managing director Sudhir Agarwal said, “Over the past few quarters, we undertook several key initiatives to propel the company on a growth trajectory, which have started delivering results. We have been confidently implementing our yield strategy which has gained acceptance among advertisers.”
Being the largest circulated newspaper in India, Dainik Bhaskar has had to keep a steady focus on its infrastructure and equipment to maintain its position. Sharma says, “It is of vital importance that our presses and other equipment run at an optimum performance level. Installation of new towers or new presses are required almost every year to maintain our position in terms of quality and circulation.” Altogether, Dainik Bhaskar has 53 printing locations in India. DB has recently installed an 8-tower 533 mm cutoff M360 press from Manugraph in Jaipur and a 533 mm cut-off 7- tower press in Bhopal from Ronald Web Offset. Violet CtPs from Krause are installed at about 95% of its locations. Around 15 to 20 new towers will also be installed at its pan India locations this financial year.
Innovation is the order of the day in the newspaper industry according to Sharma. “Flaps, multiple flaps, French window, panorama or fragrance – over the years Dainik Bhaskar has been at the forefront of innovations. You have to increase your value in the market and be prepared to meet the needs of the advertisers as well as the readers,” he says. DB, according to Sharma, has also been continuously cutting costs during the last three years as per a closely monitored plan formulated by its managing director Sudhir Agarwal. “Every month we map the progress of the cost rationalization measures and they are in distinctly identified segments like plant and machinery, operating expenses and manpower deployment.”
Apart from this, DB has also been carrying out commercial printing activities in its newspaper plants to improve idle capacity utilization, so that each of the press sections become bootstrapping revenue earners. Sharma confirmed that almost Rs 50 crores revenue is generated annually from commercial printing during the idle time of the newspaper presses. “Contract printing is a very important aspect of our business and if there is some capacity remaining under-utilized at some location, we might as well use it and leverage it commercially,” Sharma says.
