About
D B Corp Ltd
D B Corp Limited (DBCL) is India's largest media conglomerate with presence across Print, Radio and Digital. The company is headquartered in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, with over 11,000 employees across the country. As India's largest print media company, DBCL publishes 6 newspapers - Dainik Bhaskar (46 editions), Divya Bhaskar (9 editions), Divya Marathi (6 editions), Saurashtra Samachar, DB Star and DB Post in 4 languages i.e., Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English. DBCL is present across 12 states in India with a footprint in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Bihar. DBCL is the only media conglomerate that enjoys a leadership position in multiple states, in multiple languages and is either a clear leader or a formidable player in all its major markets.
The company's other business interests span across radio and digital mediums. In the FM radio segment, the brand has a strong presence in '94.3 MY FM' available in 7 states and 30 cities creating a valuable package to advertisers in Tier II and III cities, where Dainik Bhaskar is already a leader in its print business.
DBCL also has a strong online presence with 9 Internet portals with a very formidable and strong position in almost 67% of Indian language media space, in terms of Unique Visitors and Page Views. Further, it is the dominant No.1 digital player in various Indian languages, i.e., Hindi and Gujarati, alongside 4 actively available and well-used mobile apps - Dainik Bhaskar and Divya Bhaskar.
D B Corp Ltd was incorporated on October 27, 1995 with the Multi-Tech Energy Ltd. In December 1, 2005, the name of the company was changed from Multi-Tech Energy Ltd to D B Corp Ltd. As per the scheme of arrangement, the business of publication, including the assets and liabilities, intellectual property rights, employees and printing of newspaper under the title 'Dainik Bhaskar' and 'Divya Bhaskar' and the wind farm business of Writers and Publishers Ltd were transferred to the company as a going concern with effect from April 1, 2005.
In the year 2006, the company launched Ujjain, Sagar editions of 'Dainik Bhaskar' and Rajkot Edition of 'Divya Bhaskar'. Also, they launched a new edition of 'Dainik Bhaskar' in Punjab. The company's subsidiary, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd acquired 17 licenses for their FM Radio operations and also launched operations in Jaipur.
In the year 2007, the company launched Hindi edition of 'Dainik Bhaskar' from Ludhiana. They launched new edition of 'Divya Bhaskar' in Gujarat. Also, they entered into a publication license agreement with Diligent Media Corporation Ltd to print, edit, publish, circulate, and market the Newspaper DNA-Daily News & Analysis including its supplements, 'After Hrs.', 'DNA Sport', 'DNA Academy', 'DNA Life', 'DNA ME' and 'DNA YA' in the entire state of Gujarat. The company's subsidiary, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd launched 13 FM radio stations at various locations in India. In June 2007, as per the scheme of arrangement, the internet division of Indiainfo was transferred to the company.
In the year 2008, the company's new brand 'DB Star' was published from Indore and Bhopal. They launched 'Business Bhaskar' in Bhopal, Indore, Raipur, Panipat, New Delhi, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. Also, they entered into a publication license agreement with Diligent Media Corporation Ltd to print, edit, publish, circulate, and market editions of DNA-Daily News & Analysis including its supplements, 'After Hrs.', 'DNA Sport', 'DNA Academy', 'DNA Life', 'DNA ME' and 'DNA YA' in the entire state of Rajasthan. Their subsidiary, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd launched three FM radio stations at Kota, Jabalpur and Raipur.
During the year 2008-09, the company launched Dainik Bhaskar in Jagdalpur, Bhilai, Nagour, Pali, Ratlam, Shimla and Dehradun. In September 2008, they launched Business Bhaskar in New Delhi. In January 6, 2010, the equity shares of the company were on listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
In August 2010, the company launched the new edition of Dainik Bhaskar in Ranchi. In September 2010, the company launched Dainik Bhaskar at Bhatinda in Punjab and Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh. Also, the company launched full fledged printing centres in Sirohi and Barmet in Rajasthan for their brand Dainik Bhaskar to further strengthen their readership.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2014, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) delivered a robust operating performance amidst a challenging market environment. Focus on sustaining and extending leadership in core markets, consistent focus on operational efficiencies as well as strong performance across print and non-print segments have enabled the company to report significant growth. Associations with leading media brands for exclusive, unique content and realignment of corporate sales and marketing strategy with the aim of providing greater focus to advertisers at every state level has contributed extensively in achieving the growth.
With the necessary strategic platform already set at the start of the year, the company was able to capture higher ad revenue from regional markets under various segments.
In Maharashtra, the company launched new editions at Akola and Amaravati. Divya Marathi maintained strong growth momentum across all 7 editions during the year. Apart from further building readership in the existing markets, the company also entered into the state of Bihar with the launch of Patna edition in Q4 March 2014.
On the infrastructure front, the company continued to invest in upgrading the printing facilities to provide quality product at all the locations and building efficiencies of advanced technology.
On the corporate front, DBCL integrated its internet and interactive mobile services business which was housed in its wholly-owned subsidiary I Media Corp Ltd. (IMCL) by demerging the same from IMCL and merging into DBCL. The demerger, which was approved by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Principal Seat at Jabalpur vide its order dated 27 March, 2014, became effective from 1 April 2013 (Appointed Date). This demerger brought the 3 major segments viz. Print, Radio & Internet under one company. As a result of this demerger, DBCL's wholly-owned subsidiary IMCL now carries out only events related business.
During the year, DBCL sold its entire stake of 51 % held in Divya Prabhat Publications Private Limited (DPPPL) to Mr. Prabhat Sojatia and Mr. Sunil Sojatia by terminating the Shareholders' Agreement dated 1 October, 2011 executed between the two companies and members of the Sojatia family. Accordingly, DPPPL had ceased to be a subsidiary of DBCL effective close of business hours on 30 June 2013.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2015, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) continued to focus on strengthening its presence in the existing markets of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in its print media business.
D B Corp Limited (DBCL) implemented advertisement yield strategy agenda, by taking a substantial hike in print media advertising rates, at the beginning of financial year 2015-16. It faced some resistance from advertisers and media agencies initially and hence, the advertising revenue growth witnessed yearly decline.
During the year, DBCL successfully completed its Bihar roll-out. The company launched new editions in Bhagalpur, Gaya and Muzaffarpur, besides, 7 district editions, thus extending its reach and presence to the entire geography of Bihar.
The company launched a broadsheet English language newspaper 'DB Post' from Bhopal. DB Post is a compact, smart product catering to the youth and English readership. It was launched as a crisp product to fill an important reader demand in the region, and has met with satisfactory interest.
During the year, the company launched Money Bhaskar App, the first Multi-lingual Business app in India on the iOS and Android platforms.
DBCL's Radio Business continued to perform exceptionally well in 2015-16. During the year, the radio business bagged new station license for 13 new radio stations in major Tier II cities of India, in majority of which DBCL has presence in print business as well.
With regard to Digital Business, www.dainikbhaskar.com introduced video bulletin that enables the users to see and hear the news rather than just reading it crossing a 13 million video view during the month of March 2016. It helped to increase engagement and to cross the language barrier and tap the English reader who also watches Hindi video.
During the year, www.moneybhaskar.com was launched in Gujarati for more localized and focused business news catering to the large Gujarati diaspora and business community.
DB Digital introduced two new websites gadgets.bhaskar.com and food.bhaskar.com during the year under review.
DB Digital saw a phenomenal growth in FY 2015-16 in terms of Unique Visitors (UV) and Page per Visit (PV). DB Digital subsuming of eleven digital portals has breached 1,197 million PV and 34 million UV mark.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2017, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) maintained its focus on editorial strategy which has led to significant improvement in quality of editorial content, greater readership delight and growth. As per Press In India Report 2015-16 prepared by Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI), Dainik Bhakar becomes the nation's largest circulated multi-edition daily. Dainik Bhaskar was awarded ISO-9001:2015 certification for Quality Management Systems in its newspaper distribution function and is probably the only newspaper organisation in India to receive such certification.
The company's Radio Business continued to perform exceptionally well in FY 2016-17.
DB Digital saw a phenomenal growth in FY 2016-17 in terms of Unique Visitors (UV) and Page per Visit (PV). During FY 2016-17, DB Digital leveraged its various assets. DBCL introduced a live video streaming platform called Bhaskar Live' and a UGC video platform for its readers to share their live feeds and reach out to 90 million users.
On 1 August 2016, DBCL launched its real estate portal homeonline.com. It offers end to end services to home buyers from purchase to shifting into new house offering value added services - Vaastu compliance, home decor, furnishings, maintenance, etc. In a span of 8 months, Homeonline.com served more than ~100K property seekers online, connecting 10,000+ property owners with home seekers in Bhopal and Raipur.
During the year under review, DBCL diluted its entire shareholding in I Media Corp Limited (IMCL) to DB Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. (DBIPL) for a lumpsum consideration, thereby making it a step-down subsidiary of the company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of DBIPL.
During the year, DBCL consolidated its shareholding held in DBIPL by purchase of 5,000 shares from the minority shareholder. The said purchase was in accordance with the terms of Share Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement dated 16 April 2015 executed by the company with the minority shareholder and DBIPL. Consequent to the purchase, DBIPL has become wholly-owned subsidiary of DBCL.
As per the terms of Share Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement executed by DBCL with DBIPL and the minority shareholder, DBCL had subscribed to 10,00,000 0.01% Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) of Rs. 10/- each. As per the terms of issue, the said CCDs were converted into equivalent number of equity shares and accordingly 10,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs. 10/- each were allotted to DBCL by the Board of DBIPL.
During the year under review, upon recommendations of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors of DBCL at its meeting held on 19 January 2017 approved a Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation between DBCL and its subsidiaries; I Media Corp Limited (IMCL / Transferor Company) and DB Infomedia Private Limited (DBIPL / Demerged Company / Transferee Company). Under this Composite Scheme, IMCL was proposed to be amalgamated into DBIPL and thereafter, the Internet Business of DBIPL was to be hived-off / demerged into DBCL. The said Composite Scheme was approved by the Board of respective subsidiary companies as well. However, at the meeting held on 18 May 2017, the Board of Directors upon recommendation of the Audit Committee, re-evaluated the validity of the above Scheme and came to the conclusion that in light of the current business environment, the proposed Composite Scheme will no longer give any extra benefits to the company and its stakeholders. Hence, a decision was taken to withdraw the Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation as aforesaid and not to be acted upon further.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2018, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) maintained its focus on editorial strategy which has led to significant improvement in quality of editorial content, greater readership delight and growth. Dainik Bhaskar newspaper continues to be the Nation's largest circulated multi-edition daily as per Press In India Report 2016-17 prepared by the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI).
During FY 2017-18, the company's circulation strategy was complemented by strong editorial and product enrichment efforts along with unique and impactful reader engagement initiatives.
During the year under review, the company executed a challenging and ambitious Circulation Expansion strategy in its legacy markets of Rajasthan, Gujarat and in the newer market of Bihar. The circulation copies increased from an average of 50.4 lakh copies at the start of the initiative in July 2017 to 57.9 lakh copies by the end of the year i.e. a growth of around 15% in a 9-month's period; and this entire circulation increase was achieved at a higher cover price.
Dainik Bhaskar also marked their expansion into Gujarat and launched the Surat edition on 30 April 2017, establishing a strong presence in a large cosmopolitan city with almost 28 lakhs of the non-Gujarati speaking population. Dainik Bhaskar successfully tapped the existing potential amongst Surat's non-Gujarati speaking, multicultural, industrialised households, who have migrated from neighbouring states like Rajasthan, NCR, Punjab, Haryana UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
The company's Radio Business continued to perform exceptionally well in FY 2017-18. MY FM completed the fastest roll out of all 13 newly acquired stations under Batch I of Phase III and expanded the company's reach to 7 states across 30 cities, being the largest player in the Rest of Maharashtra and No. 1 in Chandigarh / Haryana / Punjab / Rajasthan / Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Innovative and unique activation initiatives were undertaken throughout the fiscal that strengthened 94.3 MY FM's connect with listeners and leading consumer brands alike.
During the year under review, DB Digital's focus was strongly on technology for continuous optimisation, better user engagement and maximising ROI to advertisers. DB Digital launched Wisdom' an in-house analytics and data intelligence proprietary tool that supports the editorial team with real-time insights on content.
The company's real estate portal homeonline.com served more than ~1.3 mn home-seeking users online, connecting 80,000+ home seekers with property owners/ builders in Bhopal, Raipur, Indore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. More than 75,000 properties and 900+ projects were made available to home seekers in Bhopal, Raipur, Indore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
DBCL's shareholders approved Buyback proposal for buy-back of up to 92,00,000 fully paid-up equity shares of Rs. 10/- each (being approx. 5% of the total paid-up equity share capital of the Company as on 31st March, 2018) at a price of Rs. 340/- per equity share on a proportionate basis through tender offer for an aggregate amount of Rs. 312.80 crore (excluding transaction cost viz. brokerage, applicable taxes such as securities transaction tax, stamp duty and goods and service tax, etc.). The approval for Buyback proposal was accorded by the shareholders of the company by passing the enabling Special Resolution through Postal Ballot as per statutory requirements in this regard, the results of which were declared by the company on 7 July 2018. The Record Date for determining the eligibility of the shareholders to participate in the Buyback is set as 18 July 2018. The company will be completing the Buyback within 12 months from the date of Special Resolution passed approving the proposed Buyback.
During FY 2019, the Company launched new readers' engagement scheme Run Banao Karodon Ke Inaam Paao' to encash the ensuing cricket season - starting from India-Australia series, followed by IPL and then ICC World Cup. Shikhar Dhawan was roped in as an ambassador to garner interest among non-readers, which duly reflected in the circulation number.
In FY 2019, the Company launched Mahabharat 2019' an exclusive drive at Pan-India level on Lok Sabha election with the introduction of special election jacket and special election pages. The initiative continues to gather huge readership appeal through various special properties on election with the aim to bring extensive ground coverage and in-depth analysis for its readers.
MY FM concluded a massive 360-degree campaign Aapki Marzi' for its listeners in Maharashtra in order to keep the content in sync with the listeners' expectations. Marathi content was expanded across the stations in the state, basis the feedback received. MY FM launched this new show to infuse fun, positive and light-hearted listening during the late evening time featuring the non-clich on-air friend Dev' in FY19.
In FY 2019, the company launched Paison ka Ped' in 11 cities - India's First Radio Reality Show where people from various walks of life are selected through a series of auditions and interviews.
In FY 2019, MY FM Jashn' concluded in Jaipur and Indore. Events were starred by two mega artist Vipul Goel (Stand-up Comedian) and Kavi Sammelan Kumar Vishwas and Team which was attended by over 10,000 audiences in both the cities.
In FY19, MY FM concluded the largest painting competition in Tier II and III markets with a participation of ~2.7 Lakh kids for Rangrezz' Season 5.In Print business, the Hansa Research Group undertook a commissioned Bihar Readership Research in July 2018 to gauge the readership of various Hindi Newspapers, their readership profile, key product consumptions, readers' engagement and brand satisfaction. As per this readership report, Dainik Bhaskar was at No. 2 position with an Average Issue Readership (AIR) of 9.11 Lakh, while the legacy player had an AIR of 9.98 Lakh readers.
D B Corp Ltd
Chairman Speech
At Dainik Bhaskar Group, we have remained resilient and patient to tide
over the challenges while retaining our 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.
In large part, this has been possible due to strong moral and ethical
values on which our late Chairman Shri Ramesh Chandra Ji Agarwal built this company.
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. 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.
We continue to put the reader at the centre of all our efforts and this
focus drives all our teams to ensure that we live up to the trust that our readers put in
us. This year gone by has brought us several laurels for our editorial prowess as well as
for our community outreach that helps us stay relevant and extend our leadership across
the markets that we operate in.
Indian Language Print Returns in a Big Way
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 we
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.
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.
The Newspaper Business
Editorial excellence continues to be a hallmark of Dainik Bhaskar Group
that adapts the pulse of its readers and our experienced editorial team focusses on issues
that have a strong impact on the lives of its readers and is driven by its commitment to
courageous and responsible journalism. We continue to play our role as the fourth estate
and our impactful stories and investigative journalism have been the cornerstone of
editorial strategy.
Our teams across India have brought to light important stories that
have often resulted in on-ground action by the concerned authorities.
We also understand that our readers often require us to go beyond news
and we incorporate this in our special editions, recent innovative ideas such as our team
that travelled for long distances and spent days with CRPF armed forces to gauge the
influence of naxalism, sting operations to expose the truth in our Jails, celebrating
Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav etc. These initiatives have strengthened our loyal reader base and
helped us enthuse our teams to deliver more such content.
As per the latest report of CRISIL, print sector revenue is expected to
grow at 15-17% on the back of strong advertising revenues.
Circulation Strategy
Dainik Bhaskar's long-term efforts to extending our leadership by
increasing our readership continues 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.
Our circulation strategy has enabled us to extend our lead as
India's number one Newspaper and Globally 3rd largest Newspaper.
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.
The Radio Business
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
audience 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 TAM's report on the sector, CY2022 saw a robust 25%
growth in ad volume and expects that CY2023 will draw better ad volume and ad revenue.
The Digital Business
For the past three years, we have put in renewed focus on strengthening
our digital business as we look to create an omni-channel mechanism to reach our readers.
Our ability to innovate clearly puts us ahead of the competition and with a highly
personalised product experience – our app has registered a tremendous growth from 2
million in January 2020 to more than 14 million in March 2023. We are happy to report that
in FY2023, Dainik Bhaskar has further extended its position as the dominant digital leader
with the #1 Hindi and Gujarati News Apps, with the competition either staying flat or
declining its user base. With our dominance already established in the print format and
now in the digital format, we are undoubtedly the #1 Phygital Indian Language Newspaper in
the country.
Our three-dimensional approach towards user retention and engagement
– high quality content, unparalleled user experience and strong technology backbone
has been the driving force of our digital performance.
Our teams continue to work on minor and major improvements to help
deliver the crisp content curated by our editorial teams and ensure that our users get
hyperlocal news from all towns, cities and states in our markets. We have also worked on
increasing the visual aspect of the news for further engagement.
Our Financial Performance
Our businesses performed well on all parameters with Total Revenue
growing by around 21% to `21,682 million while EBIDTA grew by 12% to `3,611 million in the
backdrop of investments in our digital business as well as steep newsprint prices for a
large part of the year. Net Profit for the year grew 19% to `1,691 million. 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.
Strengthening our Balance Sheet
Our debt-free balance sheet ensured financial stability during these
difficult times. Despite the global pandemic, we were able to maintain a debt-free balance
sheet with a strong cash and bank balance position and generating impressive free cash
flows, which enabled the Company to run operations smoothly.
Rewarding our Shareholders
As a cash-generating Company, it has always been our policy to return
excess funds to shareholders. Despite the challenging times, we continue to adhere to our
policy and have declared a dividend of `6 per share of face value of `10 each which is
~63% of our profits for the year.
The Company's financial strength
- zero debt, strong cash reserves, and remarkable free cash flows
propels us to seize opportunities and deliver value to stakeholders.
Outlook
With abundant opportunities ahead, we are fully geared to leverage at
the back of our customer-oriented business philosophy. We remain committed to enhancing
our customer proposition to deliver content that is relevant and engaging. We shall also
continue to focus on creating a world-class user experience, benchmarked to global
standards of quality, for our consumers. We are confident that this strategic approach
shall propel enhanced growth for the Company for many decades to come.
As we set our sights on the future, we remain steadfast in our pursuit
of excellence, driving growth at every turn and empowering millions with the knowledge and
information they need to thrive in this ever-evolving world. Join us on this remarkable
journey of accelerating growth, where possibilities are endless and the horizon is
brighter than ever before.
Let me also take this opportunity to place on record, our sincere
gratitude to our Board of Directors, especially our Independent Directors, Employees and
other Stakeholders for their strong belief in our abilities and we draw strength and
inspiration from this to work harder.
| Best Regards, |
| Sudhir Agarwal |
  Â
D B Corp Ltd
Company History
D B Corp Limited (DBCL) is India's largest media conglomerate with presence across Print, Radio and Digital. The company is headquartered in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, with over 11,000 employees across the country. As India's largest print media company, DBCL publishes 6 newspapers - Dainik Bhaskar (46 editions), Divya Bhaskar (9 editions), Divya Marathi (6 editions), Saurashtra Samachar, DB Star and DB Post in 4 languages i.e., Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English. DBCL is present across 12 states in India with a footprint in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Bihar. DBCL is the only media conglomerate that enjoys a leadership position in multiple states, in multiple languages and is either a clear leader or a formidable player in all its major markets.
The company's other business interests span across radio and digital mediums. In the FM radio segment, the brand has a strong presence in '94.3 MY FM' available in 7 states and 30 cities creating a valuable package to advertisers in Tier II and III cities, where Dainik Bhaskar is already a leader in its print business.
DBCL also has a strong online presence with 9 Internet portals with a very formidable and strong position in almost 67% of Indian language media space, in terms of Unique Visitors and Page Views. Further, it is the dominant No.1 digital player in various Indian languages, i.e., Hindi and Gujarati, alongside 4 actively available and well-used mobile apps - Dainik Bhaskar and Divya Bhaskar.
D B Corp Ltd was incorporated on October 27, 1995 with the Multi-Tech Energy Ltd. In December 1, 2005, the name of the company was changed from Multi-Tech Energy Ltd to D B Corp Ltd. As per the scheme of arrangement, the business of publication, including the assets and liabilities, intellectual property rights, employees and printing of newspaper under the title 'Dainik Bhaskar' and 'Divya Bhaskar' and the wind farm business of Writers and Publishers Ltd were transferred to the company as a going concern with effect from April 1, 2005.
In the year 2006, the company launched Ujjain, Sagar editions of 'Dainik Bhaskar' and Rajkot Edition of 'Divya Bhaskar'. Also, they launched a new edition of 'Dainik Bhaskar' in Punjab. The company's subsidiary, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd acquired 17 licenses for their FM Radio operations and also launched operations in Jaipur.
In the year 2007, the company launched Hindi edition of 'Dainik Bhaskar' from Ludhiana. They launched new edition of 'Divya Bhaskar' in Gujarat. Also, they entered into a publication license agreement with Diligent Media Corporation Ltd to print, edit, publish, circulate, and market the Newspaper DNA-Daily News & Analysis including its supplements, 'After Hrs.', 'DNA Sport', 'DNA Academy', 'DNA Life', 'DNA ME' and 'DNA YA' in the entire state of Gujarat. The company's subsidiary, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd launched 13 FM radio stations at various locations in India. In June 2007, as per the scheme of arrangement, the internet division of Indiainfo was transferred to the company.
In the year 2008, the company's new brand 'DB Star' was published from Indore and Bhopal. They launched 'Business Bhaskar' in Bhopal, Indore, Raipur, Panipat, New Delhi, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. Also, they entered into a publication license agreement with Diligent Media Corporation Ltd to print, edit, publish, circulate, and market editions of DNA-Daily News & Analysis including its supplements, 'After Hrs.', 'DNA Sport', 'DNA Academy', 'DNA Life', 'DNA ME' and 'DNA YA' in the entire state of Rajasthan. Their subsidiary, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd launched three FM radio stations at Kota, Jabalpur and Raipur.
During the year 2008-09, the company launched Dainik Bhaskar in Jagdalpur, Bhilai, Nagour, Pali, Ratlam, Shimla and Dehradun. In September 2008, they launched Business Bhaskar in New Delhi. In January 6, 2010, the equity shares of the company were on listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
In August 2010, the company launched the new edition of Dainik Bhaskar in Ranchi. In September 2010, the company launched Dainik Bhaskar at Bhatinda in Punjab and Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh. Also, the company launched full fledged printing centres in Sirohi and Barmet in Rajasthan for their brand Dainik Bhaskar to further strengthen their readership.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2014, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) delivered a robust operating performance amidst a challenging market environment. Focus on sustaining and extending leadership in core markets, consistent focus on operational efficiencies as well as strong performance across print and non-print segments have enabled the company to report significant growth. Associations with leading media brands for exclusive, unique content and realignment of corporate sales and marketing strategy with the aim of providing greater focus to advertisers at every state level has contributed extensively in achieving the growth.
With the necessary strategic platform already set at the start of the year, the company was able to capture higher ad revenue from regional markets under various segments.
In Maharashtra, the company launched new editions at Akola and Amaravati. Divya Marathi maintained strong growth momentum across all 7 editions during the year. Apart from further building readership in the existing markets, the company also entered into the state of Bihar with the launch of Patna edition in Q4 March 2014.
On the infrastructure front, the company continued to invest in upgrading the printing facilities to provide quality product at all the locations and building efficiencies of advanced technology.
On the corporate front, DBCL integrated its internet and interactive mobile services business which was housed in its wholly-owned subsidiary I Media Corp Ltd. (IMCL) by demerging the same from IMCL and merging into DBCL. The demerger, which was approved by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Principal Seat at Jabalpur vide its order dated 27 March, 2014, became effective from 1 April 2013 (Appointed Date). This demerger brought the 3 major segments viz. Print, Radio & Internet under one company. As a result of this demerger, DBCL's wholly-owned subsidiary IMCL now carries out only events related business.
During the year, DBCL sold its entire stake of 51 % held in Divya Prabhat Publications Private Limited (DPPPL) to Mr. Prabhat Sojatia and Mr. Sunil Sojatia by terminating the Shareholders' Agreement dated 1 October, 2011 executed between the two companies and members of the Sojatia family. Accordingly, DPPPL had ceased to be a subsidiary of DBCL effective close of business hours on 30 June 2013.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2015, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) continued to focus on strengthening its presence in the existing markets of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in its print media business.
D B Corp Limited (DBCL) implemented advertisement yield strategy agenda, by taking a substantial hike in print media advertising rates, at the beginning of financial year 2015-16. It faced some resistance from advertisers and media agencies initially and hence, the advertising revenue growth witnessed yearly decline.
During the year, DBCL successfully completed its Bihar roll-out. The company launched new editions in Bhagalpur, Gaya and Muzaffarpur, besides, 7 district editions, thus extending its reach and presence to the entire geography of Bihar.
The company launched a broadsheet English language newspaper 'DB Post' from Bhopal. DB Post is a compact, smart product catering to the youth and English readership. It was launched as a crisp product to fill an important reader demand in the region, and has met with satisfactory interest.
During the year, the company launched Money Bhaskar App, the first Multi-lingual Business app in India on the iOS and Android platforms.
DBCL's Radio Business continued to perform exceptionally well in 2015-16. During the year, the radio business bagged new station license for 13 new radio stations in major Tier II cities of India, in majority of which DBCL has presence in print business as well.
With regard to Digital Business, www.dainikbhaskar.com introduced video bulletin that enables the users to see and hear the news rather than just reading it crossing a 13 million video view during the month of March 2016. It helped to increase engagement and to cross the language barrier and tap the English reader who also watches Hindi video.
During the year, www.moneybhaskar.com was launched in Gujarati for more localized and focused business news catering to the large Gujarati diaspora and business community.
DB Digital introduced two new websites gadgets.bhaskar.com and food.bhaskar.com during the year under review.
DB Digital saw a phenomenal growth in FY 2015-16 in terms of Unique Visitors (UV) and Page per Visit (PV). DB Digital subsuming of eleven digital portals has breached 1,197 million PV and 34 million UV mark.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2017, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) maintained its focus on editorial strategy which has led to significant improvement in quality of editorial content, greater readership delight and growth. As per Press In India Report 2015-16 prepared by Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI), Dainik Bhakar becomes the nation's largest circulated multi-edition daily. Dainik Bhaskar was awarded ISO-9001:2015 certification for Quality Management Systems in its newspaper distribution function and is probably the only newspaper organisation in India to receive such certification.
The company's Radio Business continued to perform exceptionally well in FY 2016-17.
DB Digital saw a phenomenal growth in FY 2016-17 in terms of Unique Visitors (UV) and Page per Visit (PV). During FY 2016-17, DB Digital leveraged its various assets. DBCL introduced a live video streaming platform called Bhaskar Live' and a UGC video platform for its readers to share their live feeds and reach out to 90 million users.
On 1 August 2016, DBCL launched its real estate portal homeonline.com. It offers end to end services to home buyers from purchase to shifting into new house offering value added services - Vaastu compliance, home decor, furnishings, maintenance, etc. In a span of 8 months, Homeonline.com served more than ~100K property seekers online, connecting 10,000+ property owners with home seekers in Bhopal and Raipur.
During the year under review, DBCL diluted its entire shareholding in I Media Corp Limited (IMCL) to DB Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. (DBIPL) for a lumpsum consideration, thereby making it a step-down subsidiary of the company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of DBIPL.
During the year, DBCL consolidated its shareholding held in DBIPL by purchase of 5,000 shares from the minority shareholder. The said purchase was in accordance with the terms of Share Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement dated 16 April 2015 executed by the company with the minority shareholder and DBIPL. Consequent to the purchase, DBIPL has become wholly-owned subsidiary of DBCL.
As per the terms of Share Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement executed by DBCL with DBIPL and the minority shareholder, DBCL had subscribed to 10,00,000 0.01% Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) of Rs. 10/- each. As per the terms of issue, the said CCDs were converted into equivalent number of equity shares and accordingly 10,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs. 10/- each were allotted to DBCL by the Board of DBIPL.
During the year under review, upon recommendations of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors of DBCL at its meeting held on 19 January 2017 approved a Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation between DBCL and its subsidiaries; I Media Corp Limited (IMCL / Transferor Company) and DB Infomedia Private Limited (DBIPL / Demerged Company / Transferee Company). Under this Composite Scheme, IMCL was proposed to be amalgamated into DBIPL and thereafter, the Internet Business of DBIPL was to be hived-off / demerged into DBCL. The said Composite Scheme was approved by the Board of respective subsidiary companies as well. However, at the meeting held on 18 May 2017, the Board of Directors upon recommendation of the Audit Committee, re-evaluated the validity of the above Scheme and came to the conclusion that in light of the current business environment, the proposed Composite Scheme will no longer give any extra benefits to the company and its stakeholders. Hence, a decision was taken to withdraw the Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation as aforesaid and not to be acted upon further.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2018, D B Corp Limited (DBCL) maintained its focus on editorial strategy which has led to significant improvement in quality of editorial content, greater readership delight and growth. Dainik Bhaskar newspaper continues to be the Nation's largest circulated multi-edition daily as per Press In India Report 2016-17 prepared by the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI).
During FY 2017-18, the company's circulation strategy was complemented by strong editorial and product enrichment efforts along with unique and impactful reader engagement initiatives.
During the year under review, the company executed a challenging and ambitious Circulation Expansion strategy in its legacy markets of Rajasthan, Gujarat and in the newer market of Bihar. The circulation copies increased from an average of 50.4 lakh copies at the start of the initiative in July 2017 to 57.9 lakh copies by the end of the year i.e. a growth of around 15% in a 9-month's period; and this entire circulation increase was achieved at a higher cover price.
Dainik Bhaskar also marked their expansion into Gujarat and launched the Surat edition on 30 April 2017, establishing a strong presence in a large cosmopolitan city with almost 28 lakhs of the non-Gujarati speaking population. Dainik Bhaskar successfully tapped the existing potential amongst Surat's non-Gujarati speaking, multicultural, industrialised households, who have migrated from neighbouring states like Rajasthan, NCR, Punjab, Haryana UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
The company's Radio Business continued to perform exceptionally well in FY 2017-18. MY FM completed the fastest roll out of all 13 newly acquired stations under Batch I of Phase III and expanded the company's reach to 7 states across 30 cities, being the largest player in the Rest of Maharashtra and No. 1 in Chandigarh / Haryana / Punjab / Rajasthan / Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Innovative and unique activation initiatives were undertaken throughout the fiscal that strengthened 94.3 MY FM's connect with listeners and leading consumer brands alike.
During the year under review, DB Digital's focus was strongly on technology for continuous optimisation, better user engagement and maximising ROI to advertisers. DB Digital launched Wisdom' an in-house analytics and data intelligence proprietary tool that supports the editorial team with real-time insights on content.
The company's real estate portal homeonline.com served more than ~1.3 mn home-seeking users online, connecting 80,000+ home seekers with property owners/ builders in Bhopal, Raipur, Indore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. More than 75,000 properties and 900+ projects were made available to home seekers in Bhopal, Raipur, Indore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
DBCL's shareholders approved Buyback proposal for buy-back of up to 92,00,000 fully paid-up equity shares of Rs. 10/- each (being approx. 5% of the total paid-up equity share capital of the Company as on 31st March, 2018) at a price of Rs. 340/- per equity share on a proportionate basis through tender offer for an aggregate amount of Rs. 312.80 crore (excluding transaction cost viz. brokerage, applicable taxes such as securities transaction tax, stamp duty and goods and service tax, etc.). The approval for Buyback proposal was accorded by the shareholders of the company by passing the enabling Special Resolution through Postal Ballot as per statutory requirements in this regard, the results of which were declared by the company on 7 July 2018. The Record Date for determining the eligibility of the shareholders to participate in the Buyback is set as 18 July 2018. The company will be completing the Buyback within 12 months from the date of Special Resolution passed approving the proposed Buyback.
During FY 2019, the Company launched new readers' engagement scheme Run Banao Karodon Ke Inaam Paao' to encash the ensuing cricket season - starting from India-Australia series, followed by IPL and then ICC World Cup. Shikhar Dhawan was roped in as an ambassador to garner interest among non-readers, which duly reflected in the circulation number.
In FY 2019, the Company launched Mahabharat 2019' an exclusive drive at Pan-India level on Lok Sabha election with the introduction of special election jacket and special election pages. The initiative continues to gather huge readership appeal through various special properties on election with the aim to bring extensive ground coverage and in-depth analysis for its readers.
MY FM concluded a massive 360-degree campaign Aapki Marzi' for its listeners in Maharashtra in order to keep the content in sync with the listeners' expectations. Marathi content was expanded across the stations in the state, basis the feedback received. MY FM launched this new show to infuse fun, positive and light-hearted listening during the late evening time featuring the non-clich on-air friend Dev' in FY19.
In FY 2019, the company launched Paison ka Ped' in 11 cities - India's First Radio Reality Show where people from various walks of life are selected through a series of auditions and interviews.
In FY 2019, MY FM Jashn' concluded in Jaipur and Indore. Events were starred by two mega artist Vipul Goel (Stand-up Comedian) and Kavi Sammelan Kumar Vishwas and Team which was attended by over 10,000 audiences in both the cities.
In FY19, MY FM concluded the largest painting competition in Tier II and III markets with a participation of ~2.7 Lakh kids for Rangrezz' Season 5.In Print business, the Hansa Research Group undertook a commissioned Bihar Readership Research in July 2018 to gauge the readership of various Hindi Newspapers, their readership profile, key product consumptions, readers' engagement and brand satisfaction. As per this readership report, Dainik Bhaskar was at No. 2 position with an Average Issue Readership (AIR) of 9.11 Lakh, while the legacy player had an AIR of 9.98 Lakh readers.
D B Corp Ltd
Directors Reports
D B Corp Ltd
Company Background
| Incorporation Year | 1995 |
| Registered Office | P No280 Near YMCA Club Makarba,Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway
Ahmedabad,Gujarat-380051 |
| Telephone | 91-79-39888850,Managing Director |
| Fax | 91-79-39814001 |
Sudhir Agarwal| Company Secretary | Anita Gokhale |
| Auditor | Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants LLP |
| Face Value | 10 |
| Market Lot | 1 |
| Listing | BSE,MSEI ,NSE, |
| Registrar | KFin Techologies Ltd
Karvy Selenium Tow-B,31&32 Financial Dist,Nanakramguda ,Hyderabad-500032 |
D B Corp Ltd
Company Management
| Director Name | Director Designation | Year |
|---|
| Sudhir Agarwal | ED / MD / Promoter | 2023 |
| Pawan Agarwal | ED / Deputy MD / Promoter | 2023 |
| Girish Agarwal | Non-Exec & Non-Independent Dir | 2023 |
| Ashwani Kumar B Singhal | Independent Non Exe. Director | 2023 |
| Anupriya Acharya | Independent Non Exe. Director | 2023 |
| Santosh Ramesh Desai | Independent Non Exe. Director | 2023 |
| Paulomi Dhawan | Independent Non Exe. Director | 2023 |
| Anita Gokhale | Company Sec. & Compli. Officer | 2023 |
D B Corp Ltd
Listing Information
| Listing Information |
|---|
| BSESMALLCA |
| BSEALLCAP |
| GOODSSERVI |
| NFTMICC250 |
| NFTYTOTMKT |
D B Corp Ltd
Finished Product
| Product Name | Unit | Installed
Capacity | Production
Quantity | Sales
Quantity | Sales
Value |
|---|
| Advertisement Revenue | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1564.047 |
| News Papers | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | 509.112 |
| Sale of Services | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110.911 |
| Sale of Wastage | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.018 |
| Event Managment Services | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.471 |
| Magazines | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.047 |
| Sale of Power | Uni | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.093 |
| Sales | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Operating Income | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cold Set Machines | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| heat Set Machines | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| wastage Sale | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Magazines (Copies) | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Newspaper (Copies) | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |