Multi-media company Jagran Prakashan has witnessed a 32% surge in consolidated advertisement revenue at Rs 387.08 crore for the quarter ended 31st December 2021 compared to Rs 292.67 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Ad revenue from the print business rose 29% to Rs 307 crore from Rs 238 crore.
In its Q3 investor presentation, the company said that its ad volumes in Q3 reached pre-COVID levels. Further, the ad revenue growth was driven by Government, Pharma, Household Appliances, Education, Personal Care Products, Real Estate, and Banking.
The company said its circulation revenue grew 6% to Rs 89.68 crore from Rs 84.27 crore as the net realisation per copy registered early teens growth from pre-COVID levels. Jagran Prakashan's operating revenue jumped 29% to Rs 518.51 crore from Rs 402.61 crore. Expenses jumped 28% to Rs 350.56 crore from Rs 273.28 crore.
Jagran said circulation for all brands remains stable despite taking an increase in cover price. Further, the contribution from brands other than Dainik Jagran doubled as compared to the previous year.
The company also said profits not only exceeded the pre-COVID level but reached a historic high. Operating profit rose 30% to Rs 167.94 crore from Rs 129.32 crore while the operating profit margin expanded by 27 bps to 32.39% from 32.12%. The company reported a 43% jump in net profit at Rs 110.31 crore compared to Rs 76.91 crore.
“It gives me immense pleasure to report that moving further up on the accelerated growth path of the previous quarter, overall business performance of the Company during this quarter was outstanding and it recorded highest ever profit. This was possible due to a strengthening Indian economy, festive season, tireless efforts of our team, continuing cost control measures taken since the outbreak of pandemic and increased government advertisements," said Jagran Prakashan CMD Mahendra Mohan Gupta.
Gupta also said that all of Jagran's businesses across print, digital, radio, and outdoor have performed incredibly. "The Omicron variant has derailed recovery a bit but fortunately, it has not caused the damage to human life and economy as Delta did. We already see a steady decline in the positivity rate and I earnestly hope that the third wave has peaked. With business continuity measures in place, we are well-positioned to tide over the current wave of the pandemic, but we continue to closely monitor the situation and its impact on our operations. We expect growth momentum to continue, but the industry has to deal with the very high, unexpected increase in newsprint prices. At JPL, we remain committed to providing high-quality credible content across all our media platforms and continue to focus on delivering sustainable long-term value.”
Music Broadcast Limited (MBL), the company's FM radio arm, posted operating revenue of Rs 60 crore with operating profit coming in at Rs 22 crore. In Q3 FY21, the operating revenue and profit stood at Rs 41 crore and Rs 9 crore respectively.
The company said MBL's volume growth during the quarter stood at 35% which is higher than the industry. It noted that 44% of the total clients and 36% of new clients on the radio platform advertised on Radio City. The company also claimed that Radio City maintained its leadership position at 22% market share in Q3FY22. Radio City's digital reach through social media apps like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Web Radio stood at 134 million.
Jagran reported Rs 21 crore revenue from the digital segment while the operating profit stood at Rs 6 crore. The revenue and operating profit from the segment stood at Rs 14 crore and Rs 4 crore respectively. The company said that its digital assets continue to hold more than 100 Million Users and registered an annual growth of 31% in Unique Users.
During the quarter, the company's flagship brand, Jagran.com clocked a reach of 68 million unique visitors, representing an annual growth of 27% in Unique Users from Nov’20. It also launched audio content ‘Jagran Podcast’ and is already close to a million plays per month.
The Outdoor and Events Business Performance clocked Rs 34 crore in revenue, a 71% growth YoY compared to Rs 20 crore a year ago. The company reported an operating profit of Rs 4 crore from the segment against a loss of Rs 4 crore in the prior fiscal. The company said that the event business witnessed a growth of more than 60% YoY and recorded break-even at the operating profit level.
The company's net cash and cash equivalents stood at more than Rs. 760 crore at group level, despite buybacks.