BENGALURU: HT Media reported 4.5 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in consolidated Total Income from Operations (TIO) at Rs 614.66 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2016 (Q1-17, current quarter) as compared to Rs 587.96 crore. The company reported a 10.7 percent y-o-y decline in total comprehensive income of Rs 22.07 crore in Q1-17 as compared to Rs 24.72 crore.

The company’s radio segment (Fever FM and Radio Nasha) reported 35.2 percent y-o-y increase in revenue in the current quarter at Rs 33.15 crore as compared to Rs 24.52 crore in Q1-16. HT Media’s radio segment reported an operating loss of Rs 0.75 crore in Q1-17 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 6.75 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.

HT Media operates 8 FM radio stations – 6 under the brand Fever FM in in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Lucknow and “Radio Nasha” in Delhi and Mumbai. The company plans to launch 6 additional frequencies in UP (Kanpur, Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad, Bareilly and Gorakhpur) soon. The company says that increase in revenues was driven by new radio station launches and that dilution is margins attributed to new radio station launch related expenses and impact of higher license fee costs.

Company speak

HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobana Bhartia said, “The first quarter of this year started on a cautious note with  tepid top line growth. Macroeconomic concerns translated into restricted spends by large advertisers and affected our English Print business more than Hindi Print, while our other businesses continued to do well.   Our new radio stations, Radio Nasha 107.2 in Delhi and 91.9 in Mumbai are now operational and receiving rave reviews, while our digital business continues to grow and reduce its losses.   We remain optimistic that sentiment will improve in the second half of the year, on the back of a good monsoon and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations. With infrastructure already in place, we are well placed to leverage our inherent strengths to realize benefits of an uptick in the economy”