NSE-listed media stock hits 7-year high after net profit rises 49% in Q1FY25, ₹7 dividend declared; Buy or sell?

DB Corp Share Price Today: Shares of Dainik Bhaskar (DB) Corp Ltd hit a fresh record at a historic seven-year high on Tuesday after the print media company announced its April-June quarter results for fiscal 2024-25 (Q1FY25). The NSE-listed media stock is now just a few points away from being a multi-bagger. Shares of DB Corp Ltd are not listed on the 30-share BSE benchmark.

Along with declaring the June quarter results, DB Corp Ltd also announced an interim dividend today for the quarter under review. The surge in the stock price came as the newspaper-major media company has beaten broader D-Street estimates of the sector to report a strong first-quarter print for FY25. 

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DB Corp Q3 Results

DB Corp reported a rise of 49 per cent in net profit at ₹118 crore, compared to ₹79 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company's revenue from operations in the June quarter rose 6.5 per cent to ₹590 crore, compared to ₹554 crore in the year-ago period. On the operating front, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) surged 42 per cent to ₹165 crore, compared to ₹116 crore in the same period last year.

DB Corp's margin rose 28 per cent in the quarter-under-review compared to 21 per cent in the year-ago period. The advertising revenue rose 8.4 per cent in the June quarter, while the circulation revenue declined by 0.7 per cent. The radio business rose 6.2 per cent in advertising revenue on a high base and 300 bps rise in EBIDTA margin to 34 per cent at ₹13.2 crore.

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DB Corp approved the payment of an interim dividend of Rs. 7 per equity share of face value ('FV') of Rs. 10  each (i.e. 70 per cent of the face value) [subject to the tax deducted at source) for fiscal FY25. The dividend's record date is July 29, and the payment to shareholders will be made on or before August 14.

"Our first quarter results are particularly impressive considering the dip in Govt billing due to the election code of conduct. We are maintaining our growth trajectory across our print, radio, and digital platforms, underscoring the robustness of our omnichannel strategy and the underlying demand for our media offerings. Our digital platform, with currently 18 million MAUs, is a powerful pillar of growth,'' said Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp.

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DB Corp Share Price Trend

On Tuesday, shares of DB Corp opened at ₹386 and surged around five per cent to hit a fresh 52-week high mark of ₹403.90. However, the stock coughed up most of its gains to settle 4.85 per cent lower at ₹364.15 apiece on the NSE. The stock was locked at over four per cent upper circuit during most of today's session.

DB Corp beat Street estimates as most brokerages and analysts have lately downgraded media stocks due to the sector's lacklustre performance in the last one-to-three years. Nifty Media index settled 1.03 per cent lower at 2,084.05 today. DB Corp is now only one-point away from touching the coveted multi-bagger label with annual returns nearing 100 per cent.

According to Trendlyne data, DB Corp has given better one-year returns than Nifty 50 and Sensex. In the last three months, DB Corp gave 33.57 per cent returns, compared to 10.51 per cent and 9.95 per cent by Nifty 50 and Sensex respectively. In the last one year, the media stock gave 99.49 per cent returns, compared to 25.81 per cent and 22.16 per cent returns by Nifty 50 and Sensex.

According to its exchange filing,  DB Corp is India’s largest print media company and home to flagship newspapers - Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar. The print media firm publishes five newspapers with Dainik Bhaskar 43 editions, Divya Bhaskar eight editions and Divya Marathi six editions with 210 sub-editions in three multiple languages (Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi) across 12 states in the country.