Bullish on Hindi print media space: I-Sec

Vikash Mantri, AVP Research, ICICI Securities, is bullish on the Hindi print media space than English players. "Our investment theme for the media sector has been that you need to play the regional advertising theme, particular to some Hindi players right now and is better than English players. We also see more fragmentation and that is impacting all players, especially English players."

A: We are very positive on the Hindi daily space. Our investment theme for the media sector has been that you need to play the regional advertising theme, particular to some Hindi players right now and is better than English players. We also see more fragmentation and that is impacting all players, especially English players. Going forward, we are yet to see the effect of some of the recent launches that have happened in the English market, be it Mint or Financial Chronicle in the business daily space and also the launches of DNA and Hindustan Times in terms of advertising revenue. So, we are more bullish on the Hindi print media space than English players.

A: We have a neutral view on Deccan Chronicle and believe there are growth risks in the Andhra market, where it is clearly a leader. Also, the company needs to now expand its offerings, which it has recently done, by being a sports-media franchisee of IPL and also launching a business daily. While the company has been establishing certain new initiatives to make the business grow, we are skeptical about the performance of the company in the print space in Chennai where there has been no growth in readership in the last two readership surveys. Also, we are waiting to watch their launch of the Bangalore edition.

Q: Your call on the other listed entities in the print space and whether they will undergo a serious change if indeed the TOI group is listed?

A: While there was some news today of TOI getting listed, that is very unlikely over the next few years. Nevertheless, it would have been very positive. It was a similar story when there was news of Dainik Bhaskar coming out with an IPO. Once you have the big daddy of the print media, i.e. the Times of India, listing it would be positive. I would believe it would throw up premium valuations given that they are clear leaders in the space not only in India but globally also. Overall, we are positive if Times of India gets listed. At the same time, we have seen too much of money raised in the space and that could impact competition as well. We have seen that happening with Dainik Bhaskar trying to get into the market.

Q: Your call on Jagran Prakashan and HT Media?

A: We have a neutral rating on HT Media and are positive on Jagran Prakashan with a buy rating.