DB Corp Ltd has reported an increase of 21% in total revenue to Rs 2168.2 crore for the financial year 2022-23 against Rs 1788.5 crore for the fiscal ended 2021-22. As compared to the fiscal 2020-21, FY23 reported a growth of 42%.

According to the 2023 annual report, the group's advertising revenue for FY23 grew 25% to Rs 1482.7 crore against Rs 1182.7 crore in the previous fiscal. The advertising revenue for the FY 2020-21 stood at Rs 1008.4 crore. The company’s circulation revenue for the financial year 2022-23 saw an increase of 1.51% to Rs Rs 462.7 crore against Rs 455.8 crore. The circulation revenue of the company in FY 2020-21 stood at Rs 418.6 crore. The company’s PAT grew 19%  for the FY23 to Rs 169.1 crore against Rs 142.6 crore in FY22.

Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp highlighted that the group businesses performed well on all parameters. He said that the company's EBITDA had gone up 12% to Rs 3,611 million (Rs 361.1 crore) in the backdrop of investments in the company's digital business as well as steep newsprint prices for a large part of the year.

“We took proactive measures in response to the pandemic’s impact, and the cost optimisation actions we adopted are now firmly embedded in our ongoing business practices. By maintaining a steadfast focus on cost management, we aim to fortify our earnings to ensure resilience even in challenging circumstances,” Agarwal said.

He also mentioned that the Dainik Bhaskar Group has remained resilient and patient to tide over the challenges while retaining strategic focus to become future-ready with continued emphasis on being reader-centric. “We are strong believers that through timely and widespread dissemination of relevant and hyper-local information, we empower millions, and this helps in accelerating our readership growth.” He also highlighted that the company's debt-free balance sheet ensures financial stability during these difficult times.

According to Agarwal, due to the editorial strategies of Dainik Bhaskar and its market dominance, advertising revenues have increased significantly across the board, especially with print continuing to be the centre point of advertisers for both traditional and new age to run their hyperlocal marketing campaigns.

He added, “We are seeing this trend continue and we are happy to report that we closed the financial year on a good revenue run-rate. We are encouraged by the performance of our radio division as well as the increasing digital presence, as we work to develop our content and enhance our omni-channel platform to give information that is accurate, concise, and useful.”

Agarwal also stated that while CY2021 was severely impacted by Covid-19 and attendant restrictions, CY2022 began with geo-political tensions. However, the Print Sector continued the path of recovery despite these challenges. What is particularly heartening was that while advertising in Hindi and regional language publications recovered to around 90% whereas English newspapers advertising recovered to only 71% of pre-COVID-19 levels, according to a report by FICCI-EY, underscoring the strength of the markets that DB Corp operate in. The print media industry is on a strong recovery path as the ad space per publication in CY2022 grew by 16% compared to CY2021, according to a report by Adex India, he said.

Agarwal said Indian language print media have not only made a strong comeback but are demonstrating strong growth over new-age media segments.

“The growth in Tier-II and III markets has further driven the growth in the Print segment and as the clear market leader, the Dainik Bhaskar Group has been a strong beneficiary of this shift as it offers clear advantages to the advertisers and as a result the Group recorded ~25% growth in advertising revenues in FY23 over the previous year.”

Speaking on circulation strategy, he said Dainik Bhaskar’s long-term efforts to extend its leadership by increasing readership continue to yield benefits. “We rolled out several initiatives for our readers and trade partners to drive more reader acquisitions. Our teams continue to deepen our market presence and increase our circulation by taking several initiatives with trade partners as well as readers. Ongoing campaigns such as Personal Contact Campaign (PCC), One Nation One Number (ONON) helpline for bookings, Rebooking Drives in some newer markets such as Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab are all yielding results.  “

“This dominant position has also allowed us to take nominal increases in our cover price in some markets during the year with headroom for more,” he added.

Speaking on the radio business, he said the Retail / local advertisers’ share of ad volumes increased 10% over CY2021 to reach 49% of total ad volumes in CY2022. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh had the highest ad volumes. “At the Dainik Bhaskar Group, MY FM continues to connect with audiences and augment listeners' engagement activities through innovative content creation. This was demonstrated in the strong 20% growth in revenues and an almost ~30% increase in operating profits. We continue to believe that this business has strong potential.”

According to Agarwal, on the digital business for the past three years, the group has put in renewed focus on strengthening our digital business as it looks to create an omni-channel mechanism to reach its readers. “Our ability to innovate clearly puts us ahead of the competition and with a highly personalised product experience.”