Jagran Prakashan Q4 profit up nearly 7-folds to Rs 39.90 crore

Jagran Prakashan Ltd, the publisher of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, on Friday reported about seven-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 39.90 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 5.72 crore during the January-March quarter a year ago, Jagran Prakashan Ltd (JPL) said in a BSE filing.

Its total income was down 7.57 percent at Rs 415.52 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 449.53 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Total expenses stood at Rs 357.57 crore, down 18.1 percent in Q4/FY 2020-21 as compared to Rs 436.56 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

Jagran Prakashan Chairman and Managing Director Mahendra Mohan Gupta said, "While commenting on the results for Q3FY21, I was quite hopeful that the pandemic was nearing the end at least in India. Second wave and its intensity in particular shook all of us impacting the businesses once again in an unprecedented manner and pushing large number of people to below the poverty line."

Its January-March 2021 period revenue from "printing, publishing and digital" was Rs 340.80 crore, down 9.83 crore, as against Rs 377.95 crore in the corresponding three months last fiscal.

While, FM Radio business revenue was down 7.39 per cent to Rs 42.48 crore as against Rs 45.87 crore.

For the full fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2021, net profit was Rs 84.72 crore, down 69.4 per cent. It has a net profit of Rs 277.18 crore in the previous year.

Total income was down 37 per cent to Rs 1,341.20 crore in FY 2020-21. It was Rs 2,129.56 crore in FY 2019-20.

Over the outlook, Gupta said: "I am confident that FY22 is going to be better than FY21 which was satisfactory in the light of extended lockdowns which were not envisaged in the beginning of FY21."

Shares of Jagran Prakashan Ltd on Friday settled at Rs 57.50 on the BSE, down 0.78 per cent over previous close.