HT Media Q1 net more than triples on 33 per cent revenue growth

25 July 2006

Income from operations rose 30.79 per cent to Rs239.13 crore from Rs182.83 crore. Advertisement revenues, which expanded 32.9 per cent, were the main growth driver during the quarter and contributed 79.6 per cent of total operating revenues.

Revenues from sale of newspapers rose marginally by 2.3 per cent. Income from providing printing services for third party publishers at the company''s facilities increased considerably during the quarter.

Operating profits of the company went up by 103.97 per cent during the quarter and operating margins expanded significantly by 778 basis points. Operating margins, excluding other income, as a percentage of net income from operations rose to 21.7 per cent from 13.92 per cent for the year ago quarter.

Apart from better utilisation of printing capacity through third party printing, the other major contributing factor to the margin expansion was a 52.79 per cent decline in advertising and promotion expenses to Rs8.46 crore from Rs17.92 crore. Input costs, including cost of newsprint, went up by 28.51 per cent. Staff costs expanded at a faster rate of 40.57 per cent while other operating expenses increased 18.12 per cent.

Interest costs increased marginally by 4.97 per cent while depreciation charges increased 4.45 per cent. HT''s bottom line also got a boost from a near doubling of other income to Rs8.73 crore from Rs2.98 crore.

Stabilisation of the Mumbai edition of its English language daily helped the company to boost advertisement revenues significantly through better positioning and synergies. Hindi language dailies in the northern part of the country also improved their market share and contributed to higher revenues.