Media firm DB Corp Ltd today reported a subdued second quarter earnings as GST led to poor ad volumes, while Bihar expansion took the sheen off the EBITDA performance. However sales were in line with estimates.
The company reported an 11.12 percent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 78.66 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2017.
Throwing more light on the performance, Girish Agarwaal, Promoter Director, DB Corp said this quarter ad revenues grew by 6 percent and 8 percent in circulation revenues. The ad revenue growth was on back Navratri festival, which came in the month of September but if one were to take that out then there was growth of only 1 percent.
When asked if upcoming elections in second half would aid ad revenues, he said elections don’t make any difference.
With regards to ad revenues, the two categories that underperformed are education and real estate and the ones that performed well were automobiles and lifestyle. So, if real estate category came back due to RERA then it would be a big relief.
The softness in EBITDA was because of one-time expenses on Bihar prelaunch expansion and circulation drive in other markets.
However, number wise second half (H2) is expected to look better in percentage terms on a low base but for real growth, all the categories like real estate, education need to fire up, said Agarwaal.
With radio they are now at 30 stations after rolling out 13 new stations, and total ad revenues are up by 16-17 percent, said Agarwaal, adding that the number is still below their expectation.
The overall demand for advertising in the last 6 months has not been good.
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