HT Media has declared its Q2 results. Its Q2 net profit stood at Rs 32 crore versus Rs 27 crore. Its net sales were at Rs 281 crore versus Rs 250 crore.

Rajiv Verma, CEO at HT Media said, overall ad revenues had grown about 15% in Q2 over the same period last year. He added that despite the quarter not being the best from an advertising industry standpoint, the company had still managed to deliver strong double-digit growth.

Commenting on the outlook for the second half of the year, he said that addition of new brands and their expansion, coupled with the festival season, were going to be the key drivers in improving business performance. He further added that a strong rupee was going to be a contributing factor in managing newsprint costs.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Rajiv Verma:

Q: Could you walk us through the growth that you have seen in this particular quarter on the ad revenues front because you had announced some ad rate hikes as well? Also on the margins front, how has this quarter performed?

A: The overall performance of the company continues to be very strong, much ahead of the industry growth that we have been seeing. Overall, ad revenues have grown about 14-15% this quarter over the same period last year. Also, what is very encouraging to see is that our profitability continues to see a good upward swing.

I would like to add that this quarter has not been particularly great from an advertising industry standpoint because some of the sectors like real estate and auto were seeing a little bit of compression because of interest rate hikes. But we continued to deliver a strong double-digit growth for the company this quarter.

In addition to that, we always look at the second and third quarter for the company together because of the seasonality of advertising industry due to the Diwali season. So, considering the shift in Diwali this year compared to the same period last year, we are particularly excited with the growth that we are seeing for the company so far.

Q: How has Mint done in this quarter and if you could highlight more on the operating profit that you have achieved for this quarter because there was of course pressure coming in from newsprint costs?

A: Mint as you all know has done extremely well in the cities in which it has been launched, which is Delhi and Mumbai. In Delhi, we have become a very strong number two paper in the business paper segment. Also, in Mumbai it is the same story. The paper is being liked very strongly by our readers. They are all appreciating the quality of content, which is being received. The combined numbers of Delhi and Mumbai stand at north of 100,000 for Mint. We are going to be launching in Bangalore in the next one week, and soon enough in Kolkata in the next two to three months.

So, Mint continues to do very well and as I was saying, we have been able to absorb all the costs of Mint, and still show good improvement in profitability, the operating profit after investment in Mint has improved by about 6%. If you take out Mint investment, the operating profits have improved by about 20% over the same period last year. So, Mint continues to be a great investment for the company. The brand is showing massive traction with the readers. It is in all a great story.

Q: One final word on the next two quarters, the second half of this financial year, you were highlighting problems particularly in the real estate pocket advertising spends lowering in that segment. In the next two quarters do you see that improving because now there is much talk about interest rates being held and not really rising from here?

A: There are three things, which I’m particularly optimistic for as far as our business is concerned. The first and foremost is the addition of new brands and expansion that we are doing, whether it is Mint or Hindi titles, or our continued improved performance in Mumbai. So that’s something, which is being internally dealt.

The other two aspects, which are particularly true for our industry, are the improvement in traction that we have started to observe nearer to the season period now, and the fact that we are seeing some increased confidence back from real estate as well as auto sectors. The initial signs for the season is looking very positive.

And last but not least, on the cost side there is some help coming due to a strong rupee. As you know, we depend a lot on import of newsprint, and a strong rupee and a weak dollar is certainly helping us in managing costs. Therefore, overall profitability continues to be very strong with new brands being added, and the external environment becoming better than what we have been witnessing in the last one or two quarters.