In the financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2023 (Q3FY24), Jagran Prakashan Limited – publishers of Dainik Jagran, Midday, Naidunia, INext, Punjabi Jagran, Inquilab-North & Sakhi – reported a slight increase in revenue and a decent jump in profits on a year-on-year basis.
The company’s consolidated operating revenue in Q3FY24 was Rs 510.97 crore, up by 4.7% on YoY basis from from Rs 488.16 crore in Q3FY23. The operating revenues in the nine months of FY24 stood at Rs 1210.25 crore as against Rs 1202.18 crore in 9MFY23.
The company’s consolidated operating profit in Q3FY24 was Rs 104.75 crore, up by 27.8% on YoY basis. The consolidated PBT in Q3FY24 stood at Rs 96.91 crore, up by 43.4% on YoY basis from Rs 67.57 crore in Q3FY24.
The operating revenue of the radio business was Rs 60.44 crore, up by 10.5% on a YoY basis. Digital revenue was Rs 27.90 crore, up by 25% on YoY basis.
The operating revenue of the flagship newspaper Dainik Jagran in Q3FY24 was Rs 314.05 crore, up from Rs 280.36 crore in Q2FY24 but the same as Rs 314.52 crore in Q2FY23.
Comparatively, other publications (Midday, Naidunia, INext, Punjabi Jagran, Inquilab-North & Sakhi) saw an increase in operating revenue, with Rs 67.16 crore in Q3FY24, which is a growth of 5.04% from Rs 63.93 crore in Q3FY23.
The outdoor and event segment reported an operating revenue of Rs 48.34 crore in Q3FY24, a 25.18% increase from the Rs 38.62 crore in Q3FY23.
Commenting on the performance of the company, Mahendra Mohan Gupta, chairman, JPL said, “Despite the economy being resilient and maintaining a healthy growth momentum primarily aided by capex and spending on luxury and premium items by a small group of people, overall consumption by a large section of the society in urban as well as rural India remains muted. It does not augur well for the industries that depend upon advertisement revenue for profit.”
Gupta said state elections in some of the large and politically important states have been extremely helpful to those operating in these areas and compensated the media houses substantially for the loss of commercial revenues.
“I am aware that India is transforming faster than ever before and the policy decisions taken including a steep increase in capex by the government will translate into a sustainable increase in consumption through employment generation and improvement in per capita income. This gives me confidence that the whole of the media industry is poised to be back on the path of long-term sustainable growth sooner rather than later.
According to Gupta, the company’s revenues during the quarter grew moderately on a YoY basis. However, on QoQ basis, the growth in revenues was satisfactory owing to festive season and elections in the states of MP/Chhattisgarh where the company’s newspapers Naidunia/Navdunia are circulating.”
Standalone profits of the company at operating as well as net level grew meaningfully on YoY as well as QoQ basis primarily due to moderation in newsprint prices, continued cost control, and improved performance of all businesses, he said. “I expect a further decrease in newsprint prices and improvement in the performance of core and other businesses in coming quarters, which will augment the company’s profits even further provided we continue to remain cost vigilant and efficient as always”
Jagran Prakashan Limited is a media conglomerate with interests spanning printing and publication of newspapers & magazines, FM radio, digital, outdoor advertising and promotional marketing, event management and activation businesses. The Group publishes 10 publications from 13 states/union territories in five different languages.
