DB Corp hosted a conference call on Jan 28, 2022. In the conference call the company was represented by Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director.

Key takeaways of the call

Omicron though on surge, the impact on the ground is much less severe as compared to the previous two waves, with a combination of vaccines, lower levels of hospitalisation and a reduction of the fear associated with Covid, helping in keeping the overall sentiment strong.

Print business advertising for the group stands at 92% of the pre-Covid levels (i.e. Q3FY20).  Similarly circulation in majority of main cities and towns for the Group has recovered to almost 95% of their immediate pre-Covid numbers driven by pioneering personal contact campaign and door-to-door surveys to acquire new readers as well as the on board readers that were on a hiatus after Covid.

Circulation copies were at Rs 43.4 lakh in Q3FY22 vs Rs 43.8 in Q3FY21

On digital footprint front the websites and apps of the company is showing remarkable growth in reader engagement.  The Dainik Bhaskar App Monthly Users have increased to around 14 million in November 21 against around 2 million in January 2020. It will soon enough start monetisation through advertising on its digital platform

Advertising revenues have shown good growth on the back of the festive season in Quarter 3, coupled with a shift in advertisers from traditional metro-focused approach to non-metros.

Print ad revenues are driven by volume growth. Real estate ad volume grew 13%. Other sectors driving ad growths are education, jewellery & quick delivery mobile apps. Weaker segment included auto, lifestyle & government

Seeing renewed vigour in advertising revenues, with new categories starting to look towards Print for their ad spend, coupled with select traditional categories like Real Estate, Education, Jewellery that have bounced back to pre-Covid levels. The other large traditional sectors are beginning to show signs of revival and that underscores further growth potential.

New-age businesses and local advertisers are providing additional revenue streams as they look to tap demand in Tier-II and Tier-III markets.

Traditional sectors such as Education, Real Estate, Automobiles, FMCG, Life Style, Consumer Durables etc. continue to look to Indian Language newspapers for their geo-targeted ad-campaigns and DB Corp being the market leader is the biggest beneficiary.

Operating margin (consolidated) in Q3FY22 stood strong at 27% despite increase in news print prices. Expect the operating margin would settle down in the next coming months.

On the shares pledge front, the company indicated promoters pledged shares are now merely 4% and loan is about Rs 25 crore. It expects to clear the same in near term.

The company for the time being has stopped accepting real estate barter. In Q3FY22, it sold eight to 10 properties. In the coming quarter, the company looks forward to sell another 10-12 properties. The management is also in talks with builders for a buyback of properties with a certain credit period to facilitate faster sell off.

On the radio front, it is focusing on getting yields back. It aims for double digit revenues growth ahead. It is currently operating at 14-15 minutes' utilisation levels.