HT Media Limited
Consolidated Financial Performance
Q4FY26 Results:
- Total Revenue: INR 558 crore (down 2% YoY)
- EBITDA: INR 131 crore (up 5% YoY)
- EBITDA Margin: 23% (100 basis points expansion)
- PAT: INR 96 crore
- PAT Margin: 17%
Full Year FY26 Results:
- Total Revenue: INR 2,253 crore (flat YoY)
- EBITDA: INR 298 crore (up 8% YoY)
- EBITDA Margin: 13% (100 basis points expansion)
- PAT: INR 153 crore
- PAT Margin: 8%
- Net Cash Position: Over INR 1,000 crore
Business Segment Performance
Print Business:
Q4FY26:
- Advertising Revenue: INR 313 crore (up 10% YoY)
- Circulation Revenue: INR 51 crore (up 4% YoY)
- Operating Revenue: INR 427 crore
- Operating EBITDA: INR 97 crore
- EBITDA Margin: 23%
Full Year FY26:
- Advertising Revenue: INR 1,148 crore (up 8% YoY)
- Circulation Revenue: Approximately flat
- Operating Revenue: INR 1,500 crore (up 8% YoY)
- Operating EBITDA: INR 208 crore
- EBITDA Margin: 14%
Print English Specifics:
- Q4 Advertising Revenue: INR 172 crore (up 9% YoY)
- FY26 Advertising Revenue: INR 644 crore (up 8% YoY)
- Q4 Circulation Revenue: INR 13 crore (up 13% YoY, primarily due to increased copies)
- FY26 Circulation Revenue: INR 53 crore (marginal decline of 5%)
Print Hindi Specifics:
- Q4 Advertising Revenue: INR 142 crore (up 12% YoY)
- FY26 Advertising Revenue: INR 504 crore (up 8% YoY)
- Q4 Circulation Revenue: INR 38 crore (virtually flat)
- FY26 Circulation Revenue: INR 155 crore (virtually flat)
Radio Business:
Q4FY26:
- Operating Revenue: INR 43 crore
- Operating EBITDA: Negative INR 7 crore
Full Year FY26:
- Operating Revenue: INR 140 crore
- Operating EBITDA: Negative INR 22 crore
Digital Business (Shine and Mosaic):
Q4FY26:
- Operating Revenue: INR 39 crore (flat YoY)
- Operating EBITDA: Negative INR 2 crore
Full Year FY26:
- Operating Revenue: INR 155 crore (flat YoY)
- Operating EBITDA: Negative INR 8 crore
- EBITDA Margin: Negative 5%
Strategic Business Decisions
OTTplay Discontinuation:
- The company has discontinued its OTTplay digital business as part of a "deliberate and value-accretive reset"
- Subscription sales stopped effective 1st April 2026
- Existing subscriptions sold prior to 31st March 2026 will be serviced for their remaining duration (typically 1-6 months)
- Minimal future P&L impact expected from residual subscriber servicing
- Cash impact from winding down content, ISP, and channel partner contracts
- No residual value or sale of business assets anticipated
Radio Business Restructuring:
- Surrendered six non-viable Radio licenses (five currently loss-making + one previously loss-making)
- Remaining Radio frequencies are all profitable
- Business impacted by high event-led revenue base from prior year and industry-wide pressures
Exceptional Items & Discontinued Operations
- FY26 Exceptional Loss from continuing operations: INR 114 crore
- FY26 Loss from discontinued operations: INR 101 crore
- Total Exceptional Losses: INR 215 crore
- Exceptional items include impacts from new labor codes announced by Government of India
- Management confirms no further exceptional losses expected from business closures
Other Financial Details
Other Income Decline:
- FY26 Other Income: INR 168 crore (down INR 50 crore from FY25's INR 218 crore)
- Primary reason: Mark-to-market losses on treasury investments due to high yield curves (10Y at ~7%)
- Company considers this "patient capital" and expects stabilization
AFE (Advertising for Equity) Business:
- Revenue recognition from contractual forfeitures when counterparties don't meet specified period commitments
- Company actively looks for secondary transactions and exit events to monetize AFE assets
- Policy: "Not desperate sellers" but "active sellers in the market" to maximize value
- All AFE acquisitions are non-cash transactions (ad space only)
Specific Investments:
- HMVL made INR 22 crore investment in Assetvault Limited (brand name: AasaanWill)
- This is an AFE investment (non-cash, marketing properties in exchange)
- Revenue currently minimal but viewed as potential future profitable asset
Management Commentary & Strategy
Chairperson's Statement:
- FY26 marked "decisive transformation" with "meaningful improvement in profitability"
- Print business performed well with advertising-led revenue growth across English and Hindi mastheads
- Near-term concern: Rising newsprint costs due to weakening rupee, global supply chain disruptions, trade policy uncertainty, and geopolitical volatility
- Managing cost discipline amid newsprint cost pressures
- Radio business faced tough year with revenue decline due to high event-led base and industry issues
- Digital reset through OTTplay discontinuation aligns with focus on profitable growth
Future Growth Strategy:
- Prioritizing investments in Digital businesses (through Digicontent Ltd)
- Continued investment in core Print business to maintain copy share in key markets
- No specific guidance provided on revenue or earnings projections
- No current plans for shareholder returns from cash pile; focus on investing in "businesses of tomorrow"
Q&A Highlights
Advertising Revenue Growth:
- Primarily driven by yield improvements (pricing) rather than volume growth
- Growth seen across both English and Hindi print segments
- Strategy includes recruiting new readers and offering AFE deals to new advertisers
Circulation Revenue:
- Q4 overall growth of 4% between English and Hindi
- Realization per copy largely flat
- Copy share increased marginally in key markets as conscious strategy
- Short-term trade-offs accepted for long-term gain in copy share
Radio Business:
- All surrendered frequencies were loss-making
- Remaining stations are profitable but sector remains under pressure
- Ongoing review of Radio portfolio performance
Cash Management:
- Board discusses cash deployment regularly
- Current priority: Invest in core Print and Digital businesses for long-term sustainable value
- No current plans for shareholder returns