Fever FM swings into operating loss in Q2

MUMBAI: Fever FM, the radio arm of HT Media, has swung into operating loss. For the quarter ended September, it has reported an operating loss of Rs 45.4 million compared to an Ebitda profit of Rs 2.8 million a year ago.

Revenue, however, rose 12 per cent to Rs 157 million during the fiscal second-quarter, as against Rs 141 million in the earlier year.

HT Media has employed a capital of Rs 832.7 million in its radio business, according to data provided till 30 September 2011. Fever FM operates FM stations in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. 

Meanwhile, HT Media, the publishers of Hindustan Times, has posted a net profit of Rs 468.9 million for the quarter under review, a 12.99 per cent increase over the year-ago period (Rs 388 million).

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia said, "Higher advertising revenue on the back of expanding readership base has enabled us to post a healthy operational and financial performance despite a challenging macro environment. We are particularly pleased with the robust performance of our Hindi business in the quarter while the other print businesses continue to do well. The slowdown in the economy and adverse currency exchange rates are resulting in some headwinds. We will look to counter these challenges by leveraging our strong brand position to grow further while continuing our optimise costs."

Consolidated revenue went up 11 per cent to Rs 4.93 billion, from Rs 4.45 billion a year ago. The company said that it has witnessed a 13 per cent increase in print advertising to Rs 3.70 billion (from Rs 3.29 billion in Q2 FY?11), while circulation revenue saw 21 per cent hike to Rs 507 million (from Rs 418 million).

Total expenditure also rose to Rs 4.45 billion, as against Rs 3.88 billion in the prior year period. The company said that it was mainly because of a 13 per cent increase in consumption of raw material and 32 per cent increase in other expenditure.

Consolidated Ebitda stood at Rs 917 million, up 8 per cent from 852 million.

On a standalone basis, HT Media?s net profit came down to Rs 356.3 million, from Rs 452.5 million even as its revenues grew from Rs 2.98 billion to Rs 3.14 billion.