All About Newspapers

Dainik Bhaskar group:
aggressively strengthening its foothold

launched four editions in a short period of five months
the second quarter of the current fiscal witnessed a
readership growth of 3,00,000 (0.3 million) new readers

The only media conglomerate enjoying a leadership position in multiple states and languages in India, DB Corp Limited (DBCL) marked remarkable performance during the second quarter and half year ended September 30, 2011. The company retains position as the largest print media group amongst national dailies, with 18.4 million readers across India’s fastest growing markets – as revealed by the Quarterly Results of IRS (Q2 2011) released in September 2011. The second quarter of the current fiscal witnessed a readership growth of 3,00,000 (0.3 million) new readers. Their progress is based on a focused expansion strategy to launch four editions in four major cities in Maharashtra covering Aurangabad, Nashik, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar. With the launch of Ahmednagar edition on October 16, 2011, DBCL now has extended its presence to 64 editions in India.

The company’s Q2 FY2011-12 financial results highlights (comparisons with Q2 FY 2010-11) show that total consolidated revenues have expanded by 18 percent YOY to Rs 3,539 million from Rs 3,010 million on account of: net increase in print total revenue of Rs 510 million in Q2 FY 2011-12 on YOY basis - advertising revenues increase to Rs 2,737 million from Rs 2,366 million, reflecting a growth of ~15 percent YOY basis, and circulation revenues grew YOY to Rs 601 million from Rs 532 million; and net increase of Rs 26.2 million in revenues from radio segment in Q2 on YOY basis - revenues increased from Rs 101 million to Rs 127 million due to improved advertising revenues. Their financial results of H1 FY 2011-12 also show that both consolidated advertising revenues grew by 18 percent YOY to Rs 5,567 million from Rs 4,716 million in the period under review. Consolidated total revenues have also increased by 18 percent YOY to Rs 7,077 million from Rs 5,997 million in the previous year.

“We are happy to report that this quarter our strategy continued to deliver consistent and competitive growth. Our expansion in mature markets continued on course, where we maintained our leadership rank. Over the last five months, we stretched our capabilities as we launched four editions in Maharashtra and made strong in-roads in this region which we believe holds high potential. Our foray in Maharashtra has been an exciting execution challenge for us that tested and acknowledged our abilities in resource mobilisation, meticulous planning and final roll-out of a strong unbiased, content-oriented product appealing to diverse readership categories. Our performance in the newly launched markets of Maharashtra especially in Aurangabad was very encouraging as within a short span of five months of launch, we were declared no. 1 newspaper of Aurangabad city by IMRB, taking a sizeable lead over established peers. Over the last four months, we also launched editions in Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar that are ramping up steadily. Therefore, this quarter, our growth was led by a combination of innovations, market development and a relentless focus on execution. In an overall challenging business environment, we are managing our business dynamically with strong focus on operational efficiencies to ensure that we remain competitive and cost efficient,” said Sudhir Agarwal, managing director, DB Corp Ltd, commenting on the performance for Q2 & H1 FY 2012.

“Our outlook continues to remain optimistic as the Indian media industry is on an accelerated consumption-driven growth trajectory and our fundamentals continue to be very strong in all growing markets. The growth acceleration in regional print media will continue to be driven by Tier 1 and 2 cities, and we believe that DBCL is well positioned in this segment and aggressively strengthening its foothold to monetize existing potential,” commented Sudhir Agarwal, managing director, DB Corp Ltd.

DB Corp Ltd is one of India’s largest print media companies publishing eight newspapers with 64 editions, 199 sub-editions in four multiple languages (Hindi, Gujarati, English and Marathi) across 13 states in India. Their flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi), Divya Bhaskar and Saurashtra Samachar (in Gujarati) have a combined average daily readership of 18.4 million, making us one of the most widely read newspaper groups in India with presence in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu. Their other noteworthy newspaper brands are Dainik Divya Marathi, Business Bhaskar, DB Gold and DB Star, and DNA (in Gujarat, Rajasthan & MP) on a franchisee basis. The company’s other business interests also span the radio segment through the brand "My FM" Radio station with presence in seven states and seventeen cities, and a strong online presence in internet portals.

DBCL made strong in-roads into Maharashtra and continues to steadily expand presence. New editions in Maharashtra region are strengthening brand presence. Within three months of launch Dainik Divya Marathi was declared as the front runner newspaper in Aurangabad, based on the IMRB survey - as revealed by the survey, Dainik Divya Marathi with Average Issue Reader (AIR) of 3,42,000 readers emerged as the #1 newspaper with a strong lead over Lokmat (with a readership of 2,73,000).

The company also continues in leadership position in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab (JAL), Rajasthan (U) and Gujarat. In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Dainik Bhaskar added over 1,02,000 new readers quarter on quarter. And the company is in a dominating position with a market lead of three times over nearest competitor. In Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana (CPH), Dainik Bhaskar continues to enjoy a lead of 17 percent over nearest competitor in overall CPH with a lead position of 61 percent in Chandigarh, over nearest competitor. In Punjab, Dainik Bhaskar continued to progress and maintains its No. 1 position in three major cities of Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana (JAL). In Rajasthan, Dainik Bhaskar has added over 1,13,000 new readers on a quarter on quarter basis. In Jaipur, it has a lead of around 41 percent over nearest competitor, while in urban Rajasthan it has increased its lead to 13.2 percent over nearest competitor. It has also maintained its no.1 position in major cities of Rajasthan (Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Kota). In Gujarat it continues to be a close no. 2 player with lead in key markets and the company has a lead of over 26 percent to nearest competitor in Ahmedabad. It has also maintained its lead position as no.1player in 6 major cities of Gujarat.