BENGALURU: Indian publishing group Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) reported a 4.7 per cent q-o-q increase in revenue in Q1-2015 to Rs 440.3 crore from Rs 420.7 crore in Q4-2014 and 6.8 per cent more than the Rs 412.2 crore in the year ago quarter Q1-2014.
Note: 100,00,000=100 lakh = 1 crore = 10 million
JPL reported almost flat PAT (lower by 0.2 per cent) at Rs 55.1 crore (12.5 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2015 as compared to the Rs 55.2 crore (13.1 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014 and 4.7 per cent lower than the Rs 57.8 crore (14 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2014.
Let us look at the other Q1-2015 numbers reported by JPL
JPL’s advertising revenue in Q1-2015 at Rs 308.9 crore (70.2 per cent of revenue) was 5.9 per cent more than the Rs 291.7 crore (69.3 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014 and 6.6 per cent more than the Rs 289.8 crore (70.3 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2014.
The company’s circulation revenue went up 7.9 per cent in Q1-2015 to Rs 95.7 crore (21.7 per cent of revenue) as compared to the Rs 88.7 crore (21.1 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014 and 11.9 per cent more than the Rs 85.5 crore (20.7 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2014.
JPL’s major revenue comes from its publication Dainik Jagran (DJ). DJ reported revenue of Rs 335.9 crore in Q1-2015, as compared to the Rs 310.3 crore in Q4-2014 and Rs.312.7 crore in Q1-2014. It has reported operating margin of DJ at 34 per cent for the current quarter. The company reported Digital Advertising Revenue Growth of 57 per cent.
JPL reported total expense of Rs 357.05 crore (81.1 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2015, which was 1.9 per cent lower than the Rs 363.79 crore (86.5 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014and 8.7 per cent more than Rs 328.38 crore (79.7 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2014. A major component of JPL’s total expenditure is raw materials. The company spent Rs 162.7 crore (37 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2015 towards raw materials, which was 3.6 per cent more than the Rs 157.1 crore (37.3 per cent of revenue) in Q4-2014 and 14.9 per cent more than the Rs 141.6 crore (34.4 per cent of revenue) in Q1-2014.
Sharing its strategy the company says that it plans to leverage credible news content of Jagran to strengthen digital presence and capitalising on the growing mobile traffic, building video content. The company intends to focus on user generated content. JPL says that it wants to increase its foot hold in non Jagran markets. It also plans on covering all major events and will focus on content acquisition, distribution and alliances.
The group is engaged primarily in printing and publication of newspaper and magazines in India. The other activities of the Company comprise outdoor advertising, event management services and digital business. Among JPL’s subsidiaries include Midday Infomedia Limited, Suvi Info Management (Indore) Private Limited, Nai Dunia Media Limited, Shabda-Shikar Prakashan- Firm, Leet OOH Media Private Limited and X-pert Publicity Private Limited.
