Q3 Report Card: Print holds ground amid festive boost & lower newsprint costs

Even as digital media continues its rapid ascent, the print industry is maintaining its resilience. The Q3 FY25 financial results of newspaper businesses across various languages indicate steady growth, driven by cost efficiencies and a decline in newsprint prices.

According to Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2025, the print sector demonstrated remarkable resilience in 2024 despite persistent challenges. The medium recorded an AdEx of Rs 20,272 crore in 2024, finally surpassing pre-Covid levels after a five-year slowdown, with a steady 5% growth.

To begin with, English Daily HT Media’s revenues grew in the annual festive season of OND quarter with a corresponding improvement in both business and operational metrics. The revenue from operations for the publication stood at Rs 489.8 crore, marking a 10.5% increase from Rs 442.9 crore in the similar quarter of last fiscal. The publication was successful in narrowing its losses from Rs 15.14 crore in Q3 of previous fiscal to Rs 3.24 crore in current fiscal’s Q3.

“Print advertising revenues have, on the back of price/mix, seen improved revenue growth. This, coupled with sustained control on operational expenses, have led to margin improvement on YoY as well as QoQ basis,” said Sobhana Bhartia, Chairperson of HT Media.

DB Corp recorded a minor 0.3% decline in its revenue from operations by earning Rs 642.6 crore in Q3 for the current fiscal, whereas this figure was at Rs 644.7 crore in the previous fiscal’s Q3.

DB Corp revealed that it earned Rs 118.2 crore in this fiscal’s Q3 as against Rs 123.9 crore in Q3 of previous fiscal, marking a YoY decline of 4%.

DB Corp’s Non-Executive Director Girish Agarwal mentioned in the earnings call that, “Last year was election and last year nine months had the impact of the advertising revenue also, in spite of that, we maintained the number. There has been growth in our EBITDA, and that has been assisted by continued soft newsprint prices as well as the efficient cost control mechanism deployed by the company.”

“Further, if we exclude the election results' ad benefit that accrued last year, Q3 FY25 registered a healthy growth year-on-year in ad revenue, EBITDA and PAT,” he added.

Jagran Prakashan earned Rs 516.5 crore by way of revenue from operations, marking a flattish increase of 1% from Rs 510.9 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. The profit for the period for the publication fell by 8.4% and stood at Rs 62.1 crore vis-a-vis Rs 97 crore in Q3 of previous fiscal.

Advertisement revenue shows slight decline

Jagran Prakashan’s ad revenue was at Rs 282 crore for the quarter, whereas the same figure stood at Rs 286 crore marking a slight decline of 1%.

Similarly, DB Corp saw a decline of 1% in advertising Revenue which was at Rs. 476.7 crore as against Rs. 481.9 crore, due to state election filled high base of last year.

On the other hand, HT Media was able to defy the odds by registering a growth of 9% in ad revenue wherein the amount stood at Rs 309 crore for the Q3 of the current fiscal and Rs 283 crore for the previous fiscal.

Meanwhile, the Digital Advertising Report 2025 mentioned that government and social organizations, education, retail, and media, entertainment, and travel and transport segments allocate majority of their media budgets to print media even today.

Circulation revenue takes a dive

HT Media’s circulation revenue amounted to Rs 52 crore for the quarter, declining by 11% from Rs 58 crore in the previous fiscal’s corresponding quarter.

Similarly, Jagran Prakashan collected Rs 84 crore in circulation revenue in Q3 FY25, reflecting 4% decrease from Rs 88 crore in Q3 of FY24.

DB Corp’s circulation revenue stood at Rs119.5 crore for the quarter ended December 2024 as against Rs 120 crore in the quarter ended December 2023, equalling to a decline of a minor 0.4%.

DB Corp’s Agarwal mentioned the circulation issue has persisted due to lack of distribution executives. For example, in the outskirts of Jaipur earlier, a boy would get up at 4 in the morning and deliver those 30 copies to slightly outskirt areas of Jaipur, but now to get that manpower at a certain price is becoming a challenge.

“Almost 1,000 people are deployed on a door-to-door survey across the country. Those who are going and convincing people, meeting them about the circulation. So, as we promised you that this year, we'll be putting all possible efforts on the circulation growth,” shared Agarwal.

Digital gives a silver lining

Analysts suggest that digital amplification can be the only way that print thrives in the current scenario of the competitive media landscape.

Agarwal of DB Corp mentioned that, “With regards to our Digital business, we continued to focus on the growth strategy and we are very happy to share that our MAUs stand at around 19 million as of 2024 October.”

HT Media’s digital business grew by a whopping 32%, showing a revenue of Rs 51 crore in Q3 FY25, whereas the same figure stood at Rs 39 crore in the previous fiscal’s similar quarter.

Bhartia shared, “In the digital business, the Company continues to post revenue growth and operational improvement.”

Similarly, Jagran Prakashan enjoyed digital success recording an operating revenue of Rs 30.27 crore in Q3 of FY25, growing by 8.4% from Rs 27.90 crore in Q3 FY24.

Newsprint prices go soft

DB Corp’s average cost for newsprint was Rs 47600 PMT in 9M FY2025 from Rs 52700 PMT in last year, resulting in newsprint cost reduction of 14% YoY. As expected, Newsprint prices remained stable in dollar terms in Q3 of FY2025 and are expected to remain soft for the next couple of quarters subject to dollar exchange fluctuation.

“And going forward, we are firm believers that the newsprint prices should stabilize at the same number, at least for the quarter four,” concluded Agarwal.

Jagran Prakashan too looks forward to a better outlook for the future supported by lowering of newsprint costs.

Print ad share over the years

Overall, advertising spends on print media decreased from 20% to 17% by the end of 2024, with projections suggesting a further decline to 15% by end of 2025, as per the dentsu-e4m report.

The print advertising sector has been witnessing a consistent decline over the past decade, reflecting the shifting preferences of brands and advertisers toward digital and other emerging mediums. According to dentsu-e4m data, the share of ad spends on print has steadily dropped from 35% in 2016 to a projected 13% by 2026.

The downward trend is evident in year-on-year figures: print's ad share stood at 34% in 2017, followed by 31% in 2018, 29% in 2019, and 26% in 2020. The shift accelerated post-pandemic, with print ad spends dropping to 23% in 2021, 22% in 2022, 20% in 2023, and further down to 17% in 2024. The decline comes as brands continue to allocate larger portions of their budgets to digital, television, and outdoor advertising, given their wider reach and data-driven targeting capabilities.

However, despite the shrinking ad share, print remains a high-trust medium, particularly for sectors like automobiles, real estate, BFSI, and government advertising, which continue to leverage newspapers for credibility and regional outreach.