Publishing company Jagran Prakashan announced Q2FY24 & H1FY24 results: Consolidated Q2FY24 vs Q2FY23: Operating Revenues at Rs 458.73 crore, up by 1% from Rs 454.16 crore. Advertisement Revenues at Rs 318.61 crore, slightly up from Rs 317.69 crore. Circulation Revenues at Rs 89.72 crore as against Rs 92.62 crore. Other Operating Revenues at Rs 50.40 crore, up by 14.9% from Rs 43.86 crore. Digital Revenue at Rs 27.57 crore, up by 32.7% from Rs 20.77 crore. Operating Profit at Rs 71.93 crore as against Rs 86 crore. PBT at Rs 56.46 crore as against Rs 67.40 crore. PAT at Rs 41.52 crore as against Rs 50.62 crore. EPS (non-annualized) of Rs 1.95 as against Rs 1.96. Consolidated H1FY24 vs H1FY23: Operating Revenues at Rs 913.31 crore, slightly up from Rs 908.63 crore. Advertisement Revenues at Rs 627.98 crore, slightly up from Rs 622.61 crore. Circulation Revenues at Rs 184.85 crore as against Rs 186.04 crore. Other Operating Revenues at Rs 100.47 crore, slightly up from Rs 99.98 crore. Digital Revenue at Rs 48 crore, up by 15.5% from Rs 41.55 crore. Operating Profit at Rs 141.35 crore as against Rs 163.14 crore. PBT at Rs 113.22 crore as against Rs 121.58 crore. PAT at Rs 85.41 crore as against Rs 91.12 crore. EPS (non-annualized) of Rs 4.00, up by 13.3% from Rs 3.53. Commenting on the performance of the Company, Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman, JPL said, “The economy of India has been resilient amid volatile and unpredictable geopolitical climate. It continued to record growth more than the inflation. However, the discretionary consumption by the populace of low and middle-income levels continued to remain subdued. High inflation in edibles leaves very little in their pocket for spending on items that are not necessary for survival. This environment is not supportive of industries like newspapers which thrive when discretionary spending is robust. Volumes apart, passing on inflation to consumers continues to remain difficult as any attempt to increase price drops volumes disproportionately and quickly. In this background and in the light of the company’s strategy to hold price points to the extent possible, the company’s overall performance has to be viewed. The company had some growth in revenues during the current quarter as well as a half year as compared to the same period of the previous year supported by growth of the Radio business, Digital business, and exceptional performance of NaiDunia which had specific advantage due to location. However, profits were adversely impacted due to increased expenses on account of strengthening the operations of digital business, higher promotional and some non-recurring expenses, and also on account of the impact of inflation. Further, as stated earlier, I expect further improvement in revenues particularly in H2 benefitting from lower inflation and increased government spending and even more improved profits due to increased revenues coupled with newsprint cost savings due to moderation in prices which is not yet fully reflected in operating results.” Result PDF